The Demon Heart
by SilverGato
Summary: Set in RE2 and RE3. A group of troubled survivors are caught in the chaos of Raccoon City. Will they be able to face their own horrible secrets or fail and be devoured by them?
1. The Man Named James Turner

Disclaimer: I don't own Resident Evil, but all the other characters are mine!

Author's Note: Hello! This is just a little story I wrote so I could get a break from "Where Darkness Sleeps" (which I'm currently working on getting new material for it). Hopefully, you'll enjoy it. This story takes place around the RE2/RE3 events, and it focuses a great deal on the characters themselves. 

A man gazed through the glass window of his house, not uttering a word as he searched for some sign of life. The darkness seemed to swallow up his little neighborhood, throwing it into a black abyss. He was all alone in the quiet night. 

Just a couple seconds ago, they had announced on the radio that everyone was to escape to the police station while the police dealt with a massive riot caused by some kind of contagious disease. The announcement was soon followed by static, and all the man was left with was a simple warning to flee.

James Turner, a twenty-nine year old man who lived in Raccoon City all his life, was about to leave his home forever.

James had only been in town for a week. It was a break from his training in the Air Force, a chance to visit his lovely wife. Just as soon as he stepped through the door, his wife hugged him tightly with tears in her eyes. In a panicked voice she talked about a "disease" going around that drove people mad. James tried to calm her down, but she wouldn't settle down unless she was someplace safer. She went to her mother's house far out in the country, and James told her he'd come stay with her after he was done in Raccoon City.

At first, James thought it was mere paranoia. He was determined to stay in Raccoon City for just a little bit for his vacation. However, things kept getting worse and worse. The diseased seemed to be affecting everyone. It would only be a matter of time before it got him too.

He went upstairs to prepare himself for his trip to the police station. He quickly put on a pair of camouflaged cargo pants, along with a black T-shirt. As he looked up, he caught his reflection in the bathroom mirror. He was a little tan, due to all the time he spent out in the sun and he had a muscular build. He had a boyish haircut, making him look younger than he did, or that's what his wife would say to him. James brushed a few red strands of hair out of his dark blue eyes. He smiled.

'Debbie told me that I looked like a teenager,' he thought. The thought of his wife calmed his nerves a little. He told himself that he had nothing to fear, and that he'd get out of here and see Debbie again.

James packed everything he thought he would want to bring to the police station. He packed clothes, a water bottle, his combat knife, and his prized hunting rifle. The rifle was something he couldn't bear to leave behind. 

He passed the fireplace where a picture was sitting. James stopped to look at it.

In the picture was a younger James Turner, his wife Debbie, and a little boy. Their son.

'Daniel...'

Daniel died two years ago due to a car accident. It had been just him and Daniel driving down the road. James couldn't remember what exactly had happened. All he remembered was that he had woken up in a hospital with a doctor hovering over him.

__

"I'm sorry, Mr. Turner, your son has died."

James took the picture and touched Daniel's face with his thumb. He smiled sadly, and decided to take the picture with him. He packed the photo away, opened the front door, and left. 

The night was cold and dismal. It was difficult for James to see anything. He could faintly hear a noise in the distant.

'Moans...?'

He shook his head. It was probably just the wind, or he was just being paranoid.

'Pull yourself together, James. This isn't how they trained you,' he thought to himself. The moans began to gradually get louder. It was unmistakable now. It was an eerie, sad, and disturbing sound to hear. James began to walk quicker down the road, wishing that he still had his car so he could just drive to the police station. 

BAM!

James's heart nearly leaped out of his chest. He spun around quickly to see what the noise was. His heartbeat began to return to normal when he discovered that it was only the wind slamming someone's front door. The door swung open again, banging against the house. 

'Just my imagination. There's nothing to worry about,' he told himself. He caught a glimpse of something moving in the house. At first, he figured it was a cat or something, but then he heard a soft whimpering from inside the house. 

James cautiously walked to the porch. With each step the whimpering seemed to grow louder. James could make out a figure lying in front of the door. It looked like a person. 

"Hello?" he called out, but there was no answer. He climbed up the small, wooden porch steps. Each stepped creaked under him, as if warning him to leave. As he approached the figure, he could make out features of the person lying there.

The person looked like a woman. She had thick, long brown hair that was dirty and matted. Her skin was very pale-looking and she was dressed in a white nightgown. Her arms and nightgown were stained with blood. James looked on with horror. The woman had been attacked. He quickly rushed to her side.

"Ma'am, can you hear me? Don't worry, I'll get you to a doctor. Just hang in there for me, okay?" he spoke quickly. Her hand twitched slightly and the woman whimpered again. He bent down to pick her up and carry her. She moaned softly, and to James's surprise, she began to move. 

She pushed herself up, her arms trembling. Blood poured from her mouth onto the floor. She shook violently as she got to her feet, as if every movement hurt her. Her arms hung limply at her sides and she seemed to be staring blankly at the floor.

'Ma'am...?"

The woman looked up and James stumbled back in shock. Half of her face was missing, like it had been chewed off. She stared at James for what seemed like hours, before she suddenly brought up her hands and began dragging her feet towards him. 

James took a few more steps back as he tried to register the fact that there was a dead-looking woman walking towards him like a....

_Zombie._

It was the only way James could describe it. A flesh-eating zombie. The woman moaned louder as she tried to reach for him. James quickly reached for his rifle, but then remembered he had no ammo for it. 

'Way to go, James. Bring a gun, but don't have any ammo for it,' he silently cursed himself. He pulled out his knife and pointed it at her. 

"Stay back!" he commanded, hoping the woman would listen. She continued shuffling forward. The woman lunged forward, grabbing James's boot as she did. James looked down in horror as she dragged herself toward him. He quickly tried shaking her off, but she wouldn't let go of his foot. She opened her mouth, showing her teeth. She was only inches away from sinking her teeth into his leg. James's grew more frantic as he tried to shake her off his leg. Her teeth were just an inch away...

James took his knife and drove it deep into the woman's skull. She shrieked and flailed wildly, but James continued stabbing her over and over until she lay still. A pool of blood seeped under her. He stared at his blood-covered knife in disbelief.

'Oh God...I just killed...another human being...' he thought, 'or was it human? What the heck is it?'

The smell of rotten meat filled his nostrils. James felt nauseated by it. He turned to leave. The only sound now was the front door banging loudly against the house of the dead woman. 


	2. The Dilemma of Joseph Barkley

Author's Note: Hiya! Sorry about the long wait, but I've been really busy with school…and my computer broke. Anyway, hope you enjoy the chapter! There will be more action soon enough ^_^

James walked along the road, looking down with his hands in his pockets. It was quiet now. Much more quiet. He wasn't sure how long he had walked, but he was still nowhere near the police station. The police station was all the way downtown. James would have to walk quite a while to get there, and it wouldn't be a pleasant walk.

'I really wish I had a car. I could get there faster,' he thought. Debbie had drove the car to her mother's house when he said he wanted to stay. When she called he told her not to worry about it, that he'd take a bus out of town to see her. 

'Except I can't find a damn bus,' James thought bitterly. 

He hadn't been bothered by anymore of those "diseased" people. However, he couldn't get the image of the dead woman attacking him out of his head. He had been taught to deal with a lot of crazy stuff during his life, but that image continued to disturbed him.

'The faster I get to the police station, the faster I can get out of here while things cool down,' he thought. _Some vacation..._

James looked up and noticed that he was near a small group of stores. Among them was his wife's favorite store, the Sherman's Boutique. A mannequin was propped up in the window, covered in red stains. Glass shards covered the sidewalk, and it was completely dark inside. The other stores weren't in much better condition. James shook his head, wondering what had happened.

He heard a low moan behind him. The hair on his neck immediately stood up. Behind him was an overweight sickly man rising to his feet. Large chunks of flesh had been torn off his body. He looked at James with milky white eyes and shuffled towards him. 

James reached for his knife, slowly backing away. It was then that he heard a chorus of moans. Several diseased people-no, zombies-were limping towards James with their arms outstretched to grab him. 

'No! I'm surrounded!' he thought. Panic and fear flooded him. They unmercifully lumbered toward him, each wanting to chew and rip him apart to satisfy their ravenous appetites. James tried to call for help, but his voice was trapped in his throat. They closed in on him, and James finally screamed out the words that swirled in his brain. 

"No! No! Please! No!"

Joseph Barkley tossed an empty beer can into the back of his dirty car. He was a heavyset, thirty-one year old man. He had messy black hair that was drench in sweat. He wore a white shirt with a brown vest over it and blue jeans. He wasn't considered the neatest person in the world, but right now he could've cared less.

He had been driving around for quite some time now. He knew he should have arrived at the police station by now, but for some reason every road he took led him in the wrong direction. He had drove by the police station before, why the hell couldn't he find it now?

'Those monsters, those horrible monsters,' he thought. He had encountered a few of those...those..._things_. The only way he could describe them as was zombies. They looked like the zombies right off the cheap horror flicks he used to watch dozens of times as a teenager. 

'But zombies aren't real...' 

Something dashed in front of his car, causing Joseph to slam on his brakes. He swore loudly and his eyes darted around to see what had ran out in front of him. Sweat dribble down his face. 

He heard a deep, low growl. A few of them. Shadows moved rapidly in the dark.

"What the hell's out there?" Joseph muttered. He leaned closer to the window, hoping to get a better look at what was outside. His foot rested on the gas pedal, ready to take off when he needed to. 

THUMP!

A dog, caked with blood, leaped onto the hood of the car and smashed against the glass. It left a large splatter of blood on his windshield before it tumbled off. Joseph screamed and fell back into his seat. He slammed on the gas pedal and sent the car speeding forward. 

He checked his rearview mirror and saw that more of those blood-covered dogs were chasing after his car. There were about five of them following him, but they were struggling to keep up with him. Joseph wiped the sweat from his forehead, feeling a little safe in his car. He was probably twenty miles over the speed limit, but he doubted a cop would come to pull him over anytime soon. 

_Police station...I have to get to the police station. Oh God, let me survive until I get there..._

He focused on the wreckage of the city. Cars were overturned, some of the buildings were on fire or smeared with blood, dead bodies littered the streets. A lot of the bodies belonged to cops who died during the riot. Half of them looked eaten, some were ripped in half...

Joseph looked away in disgust. He could barely stand the sight of blood, and now that was what the city was covered in. He slowed down, watching out for any sign of threat. So far it seemed peaceful enough. Maybe there were no more zombies left.

Joseph tried to focus on the road, but his eyes kept shifting to the blood smears on the buildings. They seemed to dance across the buildings in mesmerizing patterns, like someone had merely taken a paintbrush and painted it on. Then the patterns slowly became letters, then they became words.

_KILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILL_

More sweat dripped down Joseph's forehead. The hair on the back on his neck rose as the disturbing words were painted across the building. His heart pounded against his chest, as if it were going to explode. His hands shook as he tried to calm himself. 

Joseph stopped the car and closed his eyes. He murmured a prayer to himself, wishing that it would all just go away. He was afraid to look, he was afraid at what he would see next. Zombies, decaying dogs, words written in blood, his precious hometown consumed in flames. It was too much for him. 

'Just have to…escape…there should be a neighborhood nearby…less monsters…' he thought. After his heartbeat began beating in a calm, rhythmic pattern again, he opened his eyes. He saw a shadow out the corner of his eye. Joseph craned his neck to see what was standing outside his car. 

A gray-colored hand suddenly clawed at his window, making Joseph jump. An ugly, decaying face peered into the glass. It was the face of a man, or used to be the face of a man. Now all there was left was those terrifying blank eyes, that evil scowl…

Joseph slammed on the gas pedal once again, and the monster disappeared from view. The buildings and fire passed him in a dismal blur. He drove further and further away from the wreckage of the city, determined to escape on his own. No cop would be able to help him here.

As he continued forward, he saw a group of stores. From within that group of stores, he could also hear a man screaming. The screaming was accompanied by moans.

'Someone's alive?' Joseph thought. He knew it was a dangerous idea, and the survivor was most likely a goner, but the fact that there was someone else alive in this town was enough motivation to make him check it out. 

Joseph drove closer to the source of the scream. A mob of zombies were crowded around a lone man holding a knife in his hand. He backed away, slicing at a zombie's hand that came too close to him. In just a few minutes, the man would be dead.

'What should I do?' Joseph wondered. He had no weapons, and if he got out of the car he'd surely meet the same fate as the survivor. The only option left was to barrel through the hordes of zombies with his car. Joseph swallowed hard.

'I can't believe I'm doing this…'

Joseph sped up and plowed through several zombies. His car swerved and nearly spun out of control. He could feel the bumps of zombies being crushed under his car. The man looked at him in shock as Joseph skidded to a halt in front of him.

"Get in!" Joseph screamed, motioning to him. The man quickly shook off his surprise and got into the passenger's side, slamming the door close before the remaining zombies could slip inside with him. Joseph pressed his foot against the gas pedal and they sped away. The man looked out the window. After a moment of silence, he spoke.

"Hey, this isn't the way to the police station," he said. 

"We're not going to the police station," Joseph replied irritably, "if I have to go into that Godforsaken town again, I'll go insane. I'm leaving the city."

The man looked at him oddly, then brushed his bangs out of his face.

"Uh, well, thanks for the help. My name's James," he said. 

"Joseph Barkley."

The two men sat in silence for what seemed like an eternity. James continued to stare out the window and Joseph focused on the road. The only sounds they heard where the moans from those who had suffered a fate worse than death. 

'Soon,' Joseph thought, 'Soon it will all be over.'

'I hope.'


	3. Turmoil at the Police Station

Author's Note: Been a loooong time since I've updated, huh? I thought this story and "Where Darkness Sleeps" were gone for good, but since I've started playing Resident Evil: Outbreak, I think I'll start writing them again. Yay! Hopefully I'll be able to dedicate plenty of time to writing them again over the summer.

"So…you live here?" James asked, struggling to start a conversation with the man who had saved his life.

"Uh…yeah," Joseph replied, "I work as a bus driver…"

"Really? I serve in the Air Force," James said. He then laughed. It came out sounding forced and shaky, "although, they never gave us training on how to combat zombies. You know, I used to-"

Joseph slammed on the breaks. James jerked forward and instinctively reached out and grabbed the dashboard.

"Damn it!" Joseph yelled, smashing his fists against the car wheel. James looked at what Joseph was cursing at. The road was barricaded with a number of smashed up cars who had tried to escape before.

"Looks like we weren't the only ones trying to get out of town," James commented.

"What should we do now? We can't drive through that mess," Joseph said.

"Let's try the radio," James turned on the radio. Instead of hearing a news report, all they heard was static. He turned the knob, but it was still the same result. He looked at Joseph, who immediately frowned.

"I guess our only option is to go to the police station," James said.

"No! I'm not going back there!" Joseph cried, "I-I mean, I tried to find it and couldn't and…and…"

"Let me drive then," James said, surprised at how calm he sounded. Joseph looked down at the steering wheel, as if in thought. There was a chilling cry that drifted through the night air. He looked at James.

"Are you sure?" he asked.

"Yeah, I know where the station is located. Besides, my driving skills aren't _that_ bad," he said jokingly, but inwardly flinched when he recalled the accident that involved his son. Maybe he shouldn't drive…

"I…yeah, I guess it would be better," Joseph interrupted his thoughts. James forced himself to push the memory further back into his mind. There would be time for self-pity later. He looked out the window, there was nothing there. He wondered what would happen to them the moment they got out of the car.

"On the count of three we get out of the car to switch seats. Don't stop to look around or anything like that, understand?" Joseph nodded, his features tight with fear and worry.

"One…"

_Was that a moan?_

"Two…"

_Was that a snarl?_

"Three…"

_Was that a howl?_

"Go!"

Both men simultaneously opened their car doors and got out. They rushed around the car, seeing objects moving in the dark but running to fast to see what they where. They heard a shuffle, a footstep, a rustle of leaves. They saw what they thought was an outline of a man, but before it could move they were already safe in the car. James locked the doors. He put the car in reverse as he saw a the doors on a couple of demolished cars rattle. He quickly turned the car around and they sped back towards the city.

The drive to the police station was a tense one. James noticed that Joseph seemed to be getting more and more distressed as they drove further into town. He kept looking out the window, and then rested his head against the seat with his eyes closed tightly.

"Hey, are you okay?" James asked.

"Y-yeah…I'm fine," Joseph replied. He looked at the long stretch of road that was ahead of them. All the buildings that lined the streets were dark. The only lights he saw were street lights. Even some of those weren't on. Bodies were littering the streets and there was blood all over the road.

"Geez, I wonder what the hell happened here?" James commented. Joseph focused on the road. His eyes suddenly went wide with fear, "J-James! Look!"

James looked towards the road. There was nothing there.

"Joseph, I don't see anything," he said.

"B-but something was moving! I saw it!" Joseph replied. James looked at the road again. Empty.

"Well, whether are not you saw something, we're safe in this car at least. We'll be at the police station soon, and we can get some of the officers to help us…" James voice trailed off as he saw figures-several figures-limping out of poorly-lit areas to greet them.

James accelerated.

_Come on, come we're almost there…_

Something that looked like a crow smashed into the window, causing James to serve the car. He tried frantically to regain control, but it was too late. The car slammed into a fire hydrant. It exploded into a strong spray of water that soaked the hood of the car.

James tried to start the car, but nothing happened. He looked out his window and saw the monsters stumbling towards them. He quickly turned to Joseph.

"Get out of the car," he ordered.

"What? Are you crazy? We'll be killed!" Joseph exclaimed.

"We'll be killed if we stay! Now get out before those things are all over us!" Joseph nodded fearfully and stepped out of the car. James grabbed his things and did the same.

The zombies were surrounding them. The two men noticed that there were starting to move a little faster. The bodies that were lying in the streets before were getting up as well. James motioned to Joseph.

"Follow me! The police station is only a block away! We can make it if we hurry!" Joseph shoved away a zombie that had gotten too close to him and began running after James.

There was only one cop moving silently down the RPD's hallway. His name was William Cromwell. He was twenty-four, just recently joined the RPD's "rookie squad". He knew that the RPD was hiring a lot of rookie cops because of the growing riots, but he never imagined it'd be like this. That he'd be hiding out in a police station with a handgun and ten bullets left. He never imagined that the riots were started because dying people were tearing each other apart or that most of the squad, including his partner were all dead because of them. He especially couldn't get the image of his partner's death out of his mind. If only he had been more ready…

Creak.

William tensed up with fear. Someone had once told him that was a bad quality for a cop. He forced his muscles to relax. He saw the door at the end of the hallway opening slightly. No one was there.

He heard moaning and scratching from the door at the opposite end of the hallway. Some of the infected cops must have finally found him. Although terrified, he walked though the opened door.

The first sound he heard was something dripping. Maybe a water pipe was leaking, or at least that's what he hoped. Just ahead of him, where the hallway curved to the left, was a boot. William walked closer, clutching his handgun. He peeked around the corner of the wall.

"Oh my God…" he whispered, feeling nauseated. Attached to the boot was the mangled corpse of an officer. The body was lying in a puddle of blood. William couldn't tell who it was. The cop's head was missing.

William edged closer to the body. Maybe if the cop had his ID on him, he'd know who it was…

Drip. Drip. Drip.

Tiny droplets fell on William's arm. He brushed them off with his hand and snatched the ID card that was sticking out of the officer's pocket.

"Matthew Thompson? They got Matt too?" he mumbled to himself. Matt had been one of the more experienced officers. He had been the first to welcome him when William started to work at the police department.

Something wet and thin wound itself tightly around William's neck, cutting off his air supply. He was suddenly tossed across the room like a rag doll, smacking his head on the tile flooring. He got up, gasping for air and reaching for his gun. He heard a soft hissing sound, but he couldn't tell what it was.

Then he saw it crawling down from the ceiling. A monster that he could only describe as some sort of large animal that had been turned inside-out. A monster with huge claws and a long whip-like tongue.

William opened fire on it. The huge creature leapt at him and knocked him down. Suddenly, all the experience and training he received from the academy slipped away from him as he began firing in a blind panic.

He wasn't hitting anything. The monster was still on top of him digging its claws into him. For a moment he thought his ribcage would snap if it stood on top of him any longer.

Then he heard a shriek. The weight on top of him was lifted. He stood up and saw the monster retreating. He ran around the edge of the wall, heading straight for the door at the end of the hallway that seemed miles away from him.

He heard it hissing again. Then he heard its claws clicking against the tiles. He stretched out his arm, reaching for the door.

First mistake.

The monster's tongue lashed out and wrapped itself around his arm. Then it jerked back with such force that he heard his arm snap. Blood seeped from where the monster's tongue had cut into his skin. William screamed as he went down and was dragged across the floor. He flipped over on his stomach, and began firing at the monster's head. The first two shots missed.

The last one hit the monster's brain. It screamed and let go of his arm, then it staggered away from its prey. It climbed up the wall and disappeared into one of the ceiling vents to recover from its wounds. William stood up and winced. His arm was bloody and swollen.

_I have to find medical supplies…_

He clutched his hurt arm and exited the hallway.


	4. Little Hope Left

__

This is it, this is the worst day of my life.

Joseph always had it rough. He grew up in a poor family and he barely had enough money to support himself now. He recalled thinking that the worst days were when little kids would cause a ruckus near the front of the bus, or when he'd get caught in heavy traffic, or when he would think that he might not have enough money to pay for his shitty little apartment. Now he knew how wrong he was.

They had made it to the police station. The trip had been far from easy. Those zombies came out of nowhere. Hundreds of them flooding the streets so suddenly, forcing James and him to take detours. And when they took those detours, there would be even _more _of them.

But somehow they had made it. The zombies that had been hunting them earlier seemed to have given up when they entered the RPD. When they got inside, Joseph immediately realized something was very, very wrong.

"…Where is everyone?" James asked. The RPD was void of any kind of human life. No officers, no civilians, no one discussing any plans of transporting people out of the city. Nothing.

"Are we the only ones here?" Joseph asked. James took a few steps forward, taking in his surroundings. The station was ridiculously huge and very tastefully decorated. It wasn't surprising, the mayor put a lot of pride and money into Raccoon City's police force.

"Were we too late?" James asked. He felt a pang of fear at the thought of being left behind in this mess. Despite the kind of training he had in the Air Force, the odds of just the two of them escaping were slim. Joseph looked down at the spotless floor. His mind struggled to devise a plan to escape. As he was concentrating, he thought he saw something shift across the tiles. He couldn't distinguish its shape, but it was very small and covered with thick, black veins.

Joseph gave a cry of shock and stumbled back. James immediately turned around.

"Joseph?! Joseph, what's wrong?!" he asked. Joseph was staring down at the floor with panic-stricken eyes. The thing he saw was gone.

"Didn't you see it?! That…thing was there! It was moving around on the floor!" Joseph looked at James, and saw him staring back at him as if he had gone crazy. James walked calmly towards him.

"I-I'm not lying!" his voice grew more frantic, trying desperately to make James believe him. He felt the younger man's hand on his shoulder.

"Hey, Joseph, are you feeling okay?" James asked. Joseph tensed up, his cheeks felt like they were burning.

"W-what do you mean?" he asked.

"What I mean is that, no offense, but you've been acting a little odd," James replied. _A little…?_

Joseph sighed heavily. He suddenly felt very tired.

"I don't know…maybe I'm just imagining things," he said. He wasn't too sure of what was happening to him. It all seemed to surreal, maybe he was imagining things. If he was, he sure had one hell of an imagination…

"Look, why don't you just stay here for now? I'll go see if I can find help. Maybe there's still some officers in the building," James said. _At this point, I could use anyone's help. _

"But you don't have any weapons," Joseph said.

"I have a knife. That's good enough," James said with an arrogant smile, though truthfully, he didn't feel arrogant at all. He looked up, noting the door that was nearest to them. He would start there first. He glanced back at Joseph.

"I'll be right back, okay?" James said.

"I really don't think this is a good idea…" Joseph sighed.

"It'll be fine. I promise. I don't plan on dying yet," James said. He walked away and opened the door that was to his left. Before he went in, he looked back and saw Joseph sitting down near the statue that was in the center of the police station. He had a distant look on his face.

'That guy's kind of creepy…' James felt guilty as soon as the thought entered his head. He hadn't paid much attention to it at first, but he wondered if Joseph wasn't one of those paranoid schizophrenic types. He wasn't sure, but he knew that it couldn't be good thing to be paired up with a psychopath.

'He saved your life, so shut up,' he mentally scolded himself. He entered the next room.

James found himself in a waiting room, or at least it looked like one. There was a reception desk built into the wall on his left, with chairs neatly lined up on the opposite side of the room. In the center was an odd cylinder-shaped statue. At the end was a small wooden wall with desks lined up against it. The wall was covered with all kind of notes.

He walked to the reception desk. It was too dark to see through the glass.

'No one's here either…' James thought.

__

Moan.

James quickly reached for his knife and whipped around. He scanned the room, looking for whatever had made that sound. The room looked empty, had the moan come from another room?

__

No. It came from this room.

The only part of the room he hadn't checked was behind the wood wall that the desks were up against. He tightened his grip on the knife, turning his knuckles white. He walked cautiously towards the location of the sound. His heart was beating faster with every step he took.

__

Cough.

James stopped.

__

Do zombies cough?

He quickened his step and walked around the wall. He looked down at the figure on the floor.

__

Oh my god…

It was a wounded police officer. He was propped up under a window and clutching his arm, which was soaked with blood and twisted in an odd position. He was thin-looking for an officer and he had dark brown hair that was drenched in sweat. His uniform was soaked from the blood dripping down his arm. The cop looked up at James as soon as he stepped into view.

"S-so…there's more survivors…" he said, then grunted in pain. James walked over to him and kneeled down next to him, examining his arm.

"Looks pretty nasty. What the hell happened?" he asked.

"A monster…" the cop mumbled, "it came out of nowhere. It was the most horrifying thing I ever saw."

The only monster James could think of that the cop was talking about was those zombies, but he couldn't imagine them doing something like this to a person's arm.

"What's your name?" he asked. The cop looked down at his injuries.

"…William Cromwell," he said.

"I'm James. I'm going to go find some medical supplies for that injury, okay? Do you know where they would be?" he asked.

"Uh…t-the only place I can think is the S.T.A.R.S. office, but it's too dangerous to go by yourself…" William started to stand up.

"Don't. I can get them myself," James said.

"Do you have any weapons on you?" William asked.

"Um…a knife," James replied sheepishly. William lifted an eyebrow. He started to reach for the gun that was safely tucked away in its holster, when suddenly the door came off its hinges and shattered on the ground. Standing on top of the broken door was the monster William had been talking about. It stood in between James and William, cornering the young officer. The monster seemed uninterested in James as it closed in on William, who was fumbling to get his gun out and was breathing hard.

James saw his opportunity to attack when it had its back turned to him. He ran at the monster and drove the knife deep into its spine. The monster shrieked in pain and reared back, throwing James to the floor. It regained its composure, now oblivious to the knife that was lodged into its back. Its attention was now focused on James.

__

Ah…shit…

The monster slowly approached him. James started to scoot away, looking behind him to find something to fight it with. Unless he could fight it off with a desk, there was nothing useful. Suddenly the thing leapt at him with its large claws exposed. James fell on his back and watched with wide-eyed shock as it descended very quickly upon him.

Gunshots rang out and the creature squealed in pain. Chunks of its head exploded in a spray of blood and brain tissue. James quickly rolled out of the away just as the heavy body fell to the floor with a loud thump. It didn't get back up.

James got to his feet and looked at the dead monster. He then looked at William, who was still pointing his gun at the monster.

"That…" he said, "is why it's dangerous to go alone."

William flipped his gun and held it out to James.

"I can't exactly help you like this, but at least take my gun," he said. James accepted it. It felt nice to be holding a gun again.

"Thanks."

"There's more ammo in the desk drawer over there," William reached into his shirt pocket and tossed a small silver key at James. He caught it easily. James walked over and unlocked the desk drawer, then snatched the ammo that was inside.

"The police keep ammo in the strangest of places," James commented.

"We…we had to. With the riots and the chief's strange idea of moving all the weapons and ammunition into inconvenient locations. The other officers began secretly storing ammunition in places that were easy to get to. It wasn't enough though," William replied.

"Why on earth would the police chief put all the weapons an ammo in inconvenient places during a riot? And what about all the civilians that were supposed to come here?" James asked.

"I…I don't know. Maybe he didn't want them to be stolen, but even that doesn't make much sense…As for the civilians, most of the officers that were going to escort them out were already dead or zombies. Most of the civilians died off," William said. James felt like he had been punched in the gut. If an entire police force had been slaughtered, what were his chances for survival?

James' thoughts were interrupted when William grunted in pain. He would have to worry about his survival later.

"Well, all this talking is getting us nowhere. I'm going to get those supplies. I'll be back in a little bit. Just hang on," James said. He walked through the opened doorway. As he disappeared down the hall, William was left to wonder how he was going to carry out his duty as an officer when he was stuck in a situation like this.


	5. A Dangerous Trip

Author's note: This chapter was both enjoyable and a pain to write. I wanted to cover most of the RPD part of the story in this chapter, because I want to move on to the stuff this story is really about. This is probably the longest chapter yet. Also, I'd like to thank everyone whose reviewed so far (Ardivian, thanks for the frequent reviews. Lost survivor, I'm really flattered and if I get stuck I'll keep your offer in mind ). So enjoy!

The trip through the RPD's two hallways had been pretty straightforward. To his relief, James hadn't encountered anymore monsters. Most of the windows had been boarded up, though there was still shattered glass all over the floor.

For some reason, the brightly lit hallways made him a little uneasy. Perhaps it was because it reminded him of some horror film he and Debbie had watched a long time ago, where the hero walked through a hallway just like this one. Of course, he'd rather it be lit then stumbling around in the dark. The fact that he had to step over a couple of bodies on his way wasn't comforting either.

He was in a larger section of the police station now. It was very fancy looking, more so than what he saw when he and Joseph first entered. There was a large, well-polished staircase at the far left of the room, with a potted plant right next it. There were a couple of small corridors that James could chose from, instead of going upstairs. He had no idea where the S.T.A.R.S. office was, or where to begin looking.

He sighed with frustration. He didn't have time to search through every room of the police station, and he was certain that William didn't have that kind of time either. He walked to the door on his right and turned the door knob.

Locked.

__

Okay, that's one door down…

James walked towards the stairs, passing by a window. The glass shattered behind him. He turned to see what happened, and saw a couple of gray hands grasping the window sill. Two disfigured faces appeared in the window.

He backed up, pulling out his gun. The two zombies climbed through and clumsily landed on the floor. They staggered and clawed at each other in their attempt to get up. The back of his heel bumped against the first step, cause him to trip and land painfully on his back.

The zombies were now facing him. He quickly got to his feet as the first zombie lunged. He stepped out of its way, pressing his back against the wall. The zombie missed and he elbowed it into the wood banister. As he did, its partner lunged for him. He didn't have enough time to guard against it or shoot it and was caught its grasp. He struggled to pry it off him before it sank its teeth into his neck. He saw that there was something wrong with its mouth. There was a sickening fluid dripping from it.

__

What the…?

He wrestled the zombie off of him and pushed it away. It lost its balance and fell backwards, spewing out bile as it did. He leaped back in disgust as the vomit covered the staircase and the zombie that was trying to get up. Before the zombies could attack again, James bounded up the stairs as fast as he could. He was too busy looking at the zombies behind him to notice that there was one more unfriendly inhabitant waiting upstairs. He crashed into it, sending him sprawling to the ground. He grunted and sat back up, looking at what he crashed into.

"Whoa…"

A very obese, very tall zombie was lumbering around the hallway. It looked at James with lifeless, blank eyes. Seeing that he was its new prey, it reached out with large, meaty hands to grab him. The other two zombies were making their way up the stairs as well. He slipped out of the large zombie's reach and tried to squeeze around it. He brushed up against its cold, sickly skin that sent chills down his spine. As soon as he was free, he sprinted towards the door at the end.

__

Thump. Thump. Thump.

'What the hell?' James thought. The thumping sounded like heavy footsteps. They gradually got louder, and quicker. He turned his head and realized that the large zombie was _chasing _him.

To his surprise, the zombie was a lot faster than it looked. In fact, it was doing a good job at catching up with him. He looked ahead of him. The hallway diverged into a room with a large statue of a man in the middle of it, with two other statues sitting on opposite ends of it. In the northwest corner of that room, was a door.

__

Yes! I can escape!

The zombie was almost on top of him now. James wheeled around statue, causing the zombie to slide into it. He threw open the door and slammed it shut behind him, hoping that it wouldn't try to follow him into the other rooms. He was safe, but now he faced a big problem.

'Where the hell did I end up?' he wondered. The hallway was a bit darker than the others, but they all looked them same. Shattered windows, boarded up doors, and blood splatters all over the room.

There was one door that wasn't boarded up. It was near the end of the hallway, right before it curved to the left. He was almost afraid, well, he _was _afraid to try it. He didn't want to see anymore zombies, or weird inside-out creatures, or god knows what else…

He opened the door, with the gun clenched tightly in his hand, ready for whatever threat was waiting for him.

There was none.

He blinked in surprise. It was an office. There were several desks, with each area around the desk customized to the former owners' likings. James was overjoyed when he saw the S.T.A.R.S. logo that was on the wall across from him.

__

I'm here! I found it!

He scanned the room, hoping to spot any equipment laying about that would help him. Mainly medical supplies for the police officer. In the back of the room there was a bag hanging on the wall, next to a desk with boxes piled near it. He walked over to the bag and began rummaging through it, hoping that the person who owned the bag wouldn't be back for it.

He grinned when he discovered what kind of items were it. It had everything he needed to treat William's arm. He was tempted to take the whole bag with him.

__

But what if someone else needs it? I don't need everything in here. I'll just take what I came for.

James snatched a spare first aid spray, and enough medical gauze to patch up William's arm. He glanced at the small name tag on the bag. The words "Rebecca Chambers" was printed on the tag in bold print. He smiled, as if she were actually there, and mumbled a "thank you".

He placed the supplies in his pack, only to notice that something was missing.

__

Oh damn! My rifle's gone! I must have dropped it!

James felt a twinge of sadness. The rifle had meant a lot to him. It had been a gift given to him by his grandfather when he was a teenager. It quickly became his favorite gun to use, and it was what caused him to take an interest in hunting. Even though Debbie didn't like it when he did hunt.

__

"This gun," his grandfather said, "has always gotten me first place in every hunting competition I've been in. No other gun can match it. Maybe someday you'll be able to pass it on to your boy."

Except my boy's dead.

He shook his head. He didn't have time to dwell on the past, or the damn rifle. William needed help, and he needed it now.

He exited the office and walked to the end of the corridor, rather than going back the way he came. He tugged on the doorknob, hoping that it wouldn't be _too_ much of a detour.

Locked.

James' jaw hung open. He tried a few more times, unsuccessfully. Then he started pounding angrily on the door.

"OPEN UP! I don't have time for this!" he banged his fist one final time against the door before leaning against it in a sulking manner.

'I can't believe this,' he thought miserably. He'd have to go back the way he'd came, through the zombies. As if to make him feel worse, a chilling chorus of moans could be heard from the other end of the corridor.

He gulped, walked to the end of the hallway, and opened the door.

__

I'm going to die.

His old friend, the big zombie, was still there. At the sound of his entry, it quickly turned its attention to him. His eyes widened, and he broke into a sprint down the hallway to escape it. The zombie began its chase again, trying harder than last time to catch up with the young man.

He turned his head, seeing that the zombie was quickly catching up with him. He aimed his gun behind him and fired several shots, which slowed it down. He skidded to a stop when he reached the stairs. The two zombies he fought earlier were also there to greet him.

"Ah…"

He was trapped between the monsters. He knew it would be an instant death sentence he if tried to take on all three of them at once, but there was no way to escape…

__

Wait!

He eyed the wood banister that lined the staircase and got an idea. He ran over to it, grabbed it with his hand, and swung his whole body over it. He landed on the first floor on his feet. Pain shot up through his legs from the impact.

The zombies stumbled down the stairs after him, and he took that as his cue to exit. He felt rather proud of the move he pulled. So proud, in fact, that he failed to notice right away a new female zombie that was blocking his exit.

James halted, swearing to himself. It dived at him and he backed up. His body was quicker than his mind, as he instinctively raised his gun and fired. Blood sprayed from its eye and the monster stumbled back. He fired two more shots, one bullet hitting its cheek and the other hitting its forehead.

The zombie fell motionless to the ground and he quickly exited, running back to the fallen officer as fast as he could.

William checked his arm for what was probably the fiftieth time. It still hurt, but the pain wasn't as bad as it was before. It had been a while since the man who had helped saved his life left. He wondered if he was even alive now.

__

All the other civilians are dead. I thought police officers were supposed to serve and protect, why the hell is it the other way around now?

He had been pretty idealistic when he joined the force. He imagined himself being like Superman, always saving the weak and the innocent. Instead, it was he who was being saved. It just didn't seem fair.

His mind wandered back to his encounter with the monster. All of his fellow officers had been slaughtered off by these kinds of creatures. Would it only be a matter of time before he'd go? After all, he was nearly helpless now. If a zombie where to walk in-

Something stumbled in through the doorway, causing William to tense up with fear. He looked up in horror, expecting to see a zombie, but instead found himself staring at a weary-looking James.

"Hey, I made it back," he smiled. William relaxed.

"Good. I was afraid you didn't make it," he said.

"I ran into some turbulence, but I came out okay. How's your arm doing?"

"Still hurting like a bitch."

"Well, I have something that might cheer you up," James dug out the first aid spray and the gauze, "let me see your arm."

William held out his arm. James took the first aid spray and applied it to his wound. He winced slightly at the spray's sting. James went on to fixing his arm with the gauze.

"I hear that first aid sprays work wonders on injures like this. No, no, don't fidget. Just relax. I'll be done in a few seconds," James wasn't exactly sure how to set a broken arm. The only thing he could do for William was try to fix it up in a sling. Thankfully, he was successful at making a decent sling for William's arm.

"Okay. I got it. Here, let me help you up," James pulled William to his feet.

"Thanks," William said. James took out the handgun he received from him and handed it back to the police officer. William held up his hand in refusal.

"No. Don't bother. I wouldn't be able to do much with it. You hang onto it," he said. James looked at him for a moment, before taking the gun back. A scream erupted behind them, causing the two men to jump.

"What the hell was that?" William asked. A sense of dread hit James, as he recognized where the scream had come from.

"That's Joseph!" he cried. He ran off to where he last left Joseph, with William following behind him, hoping he wasn't too late.


	6. A Friend Left Behind

Author's note: Yay! New chapter! I was worried about how this chapter was going to turn out, and I'm still worried. This chapter points the direction in which the story takes. See, I have a lot of events planned, which motivates the theme of the story, but I'm trying to figure out the order they occur in, which is VERY frustrating. I have more characters to introduce, one which was unintentionally added. You'll also see Resident Evil: Outbreak characters mentioned. And since the next destination I have planned for our heroes is the hospital, I'm thinking about having a cameo of a RE: Outbreak character. But I don't know yet. You will see a new character in the hospital chapter though! So I'll shut up and let you read.

When James ran into the main hall, he expected to see Joseph cornered by a monster, maybe several of them.

However, when he ran in, he didn't see any monsters. He didn't see Joseph either.

"Joseph?" he called out. No one responded.

'Where is he?' he thought worriedly.

"Is Joseph one of the survivors you came with?" William asked from behind him.

"Yeah. He's the only survivor I came with. I told him to wait here because he seemed kind of…" he hesitated, "…never mind. Let's just find him."

He walked over to where he saw Joseph last. He bent down and found a small trickle of blood staining the floor.

Did he get attacked?

He looked around, there were no signs that monsters had entered the room. In fact, aside from Joseph missing and the blood, everything looked the same as it had when they arrived. Perhaps he had gotten scared and ran off, but that still didn't explain the blood…

There was a loud noise coming from the outside. The main doors rattled as something was pounding on it from the other side. After a while, it finally died down.

"We need to get out of here," William spoke calmly. James shook his head.

"Not without Joseph."

"We can still look for Joseph, but not here. It's too dangerous," William said.

"Then where do you suggest we look?" he asked. They couldn't go back the way they came and going outside was suicide.

William motioned for James to follow him. He walked past the main doors and turned to his left. Right next to the main doors was another entrance.

"This leads to the less-nicer part of the police station," William said with a smile, "the part chief Irons didn't put as much money into building."

"Thank god. I'm getting sick of seeing all these fancy-ass statues and paintings," James said, half-joking.

The pounding on the door resumed again, startling the two men. The door was beginning to weaken. They couldn't stay there for much longer. William opened the door and went inside.

James saw what he imagined a regular police station would look like. Of course, it was still nicer looking than most. If you didn't count the blood on the tiles, the overturned plants, and mess of papers on the floor. It made him wonder if the mayor had put more money and dedication to making the police look good, rather than making sure that professional, well-trained officers were hired.

There was a soft creak coming from right next to him, startling him.

"This way," William said, holding a door open. James' heartbeat slowed down a little and he nodded.

Inside, they were greeted by two former cops. The first one was already waiting for them when they entered, and the other stumbled out of an office. James reacted by blasting the cop that was closest to them with two shots to the head. It staggered back for a moment, but then continued to come toward them.

'These things aren't dying fast enough,' he thought with worry. The second cop was quickly catching up to them. William was standing next to him, watching the approaching zombie and glancing around for anything that he could use to fend it off.

After several more shots the zombie James was fighting fell. William glanced down and saw a heavy book resting on top of one of the many desks that were in that room. He quickly grabbed it and swung it as hard as he could at the other zombie. He had enough muscle in his good arm to knock it back. James took that opportunity and fired a bullet into its head. It fell to the ground, but was still struggling to stand. He fired again, and it stopped moving altogether. William stared silently at the two corpses.

Am I really the only cop left in this city?

"You know, we still haven't found Joseph," James said, "are you sure about this? I think we should go back and check…"

"And get eaten? There was only one way Joseph could have escaped, and it's through here," William said.

"What about the hallway? We didn't check it all the way," James protested.

"Most of the doors are either locked or boarded up. It would have been a waste of time to check it. Not to mention dangerous," William said.

James sighed, "look, I just don't like the idea of leaving someone behind in this hellhole."

"I don't either, but we're not going to be any help to Joseph if we both get killed," William paused when he saw the disapproving look on James' face, "just trust me on this."

James hesitated. He felt defeated.

"All right. Lead the way, officer."

William had managed to get them safely outside. They had ended up behind the RPD. The whole time James had kept his eye out for any trace of Joseph, but he didn't see him anywhere. It bothered him greatly.

The guy saved my life and I just up and leave him…

James only hoped that Joseph had taken the same path they had. That he wasn't trapped, alone, and dying somewhere inside the RPD. William had seemed more concerned with getting James out rather than looking for Joseph. In a way, he couldn't blame him.

They were on the main road now. They avoided some of the zombies that were wandering aimlessly on the streets outside the police station. The street was big and the zombies were too slow to catch up with them. It hadn't been a problem to get away.

The city was a miserable sight to see. The streets were void any life. It was completely silent, with the exception of the cries of the monsters. Everything felt much darker. Stores were pitch-black, with some of their windows shattered and stained with blood. James thought that they might need a flashlight if they were going to go inside anymore buildings. Some of the buildings had caught on fire, but it looked like there was no one around to put them out.

James looked over to his right. Huddled near a lamppost was a young couple nestled in each others' arms. They were dead.

He suddenly stopped. Once William realized he wasn't being followed anymore, he stopped as well.

"What's the matter?" William asked.

"There's a hospital not too far from here. I think maybe we could get supplies there," James said, "maybe even help."

William wasn't sure, he wanted to get out of the city as soon as possible. He doubted that the hospital was completely safe. After all, that was where the original virus carriers were taken.

But they needed medical supplies.

"All right. We'll stop there," William nodded. With any luck, there might even be some people still around.

Before they could go anywhere, James and William heard a disgusting sound from behind them. They turned around to see what monstrosity was making that noise.

Oh my god.

There were two large dogs. One was a Doberman. Half of its side was decayed and there was dried blood around its mouth. The other dog was a black Labrador retriever. It was very thin and its belly was exposed, showing the tips of its ribs. It was snacking on the dead couple by the lamppost. When it realized it was being watched, it looked up at the men and snarled.

The Doberman charged forward, leaping at James with wildly snapping jaws. He grabbed his gun and fired. The dog yelped and fell out of the air, landing on the ground with a soft thud. He walked over to the dog to fire.

Click.

He swore, he needed time to reload. Time he didn't have, as the Doberman was already getting to its feet, and the Labrador was now abandoning its meal for the fresh meat that was right before it.

He swung his foot into the Doberman. It cried out as he heard its bones crack. It fell to the ground once again. He lifted his foot right above the dog's head.

It whined.

Crack!

Blood splashed onto the street. The dog was dead.

"James!"

He turned around and saw the Labrador lunging at him. He didn't have time to act. William didn't have time to act. Time seemed to slow down as the dog was inches from snatching his neck in its jaws.

He screamed.

The dog's side exploded in a mess of blood and gore. James stumbled back. The dog collapsed dead beside him.

"Jeez! Are you okay?" William asked.

"Yeah, who the-" James stopped as he caught a glimpse of the person who had killed the dog.

It was a woman. She was probably in her mid-twenties. She had long, brown hair that was braided back. She wore a black, long-sleeved shirt over a white tank top with faded blue jeans. She was holding a shotgun.

"Who are you?" William asked, shocked to see another human being.

The woman smiled.

"Bethany," she said, "Bethany Dalton."


	7. The Place Where Things Begin and End

Author's Note: This is the beginning of the hospital scenario. I'm trying to figure out what all I'm going to do with it. There's a cameo of a Resident Evil: Outbreak character in this chapter! Unfortunately, he's a minor character. There's gonna be mentions of major RE: Outbreak characters though. I promise! Also, thanks so much to Lady Frost1 and E-Z B for reviewing! There's some more characters to introduce (one whose coming up shortly), and they're really going to fuel the drama and theme of this story. So, enough of my talking, enjoy!

To most people, Bethany Dalton was a lot of things. A charismatic and expressive woman, a dedicated worker, a complete and total bitch.

She had been fighting alone for quite some time, and she was surprised that there were people still alive in this city.

She was an actress, working late at a studio. She wasn't that well-known yet, because she was just beginning her career.

It had been a typical bad day. A bitchy director, problems with the equipment, and a hard-to-work-with script. The problems had led her and the others she worked with to stay over a few extra hours. Of course, this had led to everyone snapping at each other for petty reasons.

Right before she left, the director came in and told her that there was a report on the radio. It was a riot, and it was very close to the studio they were working in. He told her to get to the police station.

Then some unexpected visitors came into the studio. Chaos broke out after that. Those monsters started attacking and killing anyone who was unlucky enough to be in their path, including the director. She barely managed to escape and headed to the police station. For the most part, she had made it unscathed.

__

Unlike these two.

The two men standing in front of her were a pathetic sight to see. One of them was a cop. His arm was in a sling and he wasn't holding a weapon. She worried about how much use these guys were going to be to her.

The silence was uncomfortable.

"Are you just going to stand there or are you going to tell me your names?" she asked. The cop was the first to speak up.

"I'm William," he motioned to the man she saved, "that guy over there is James," he said. She looked him up and down.

"Aren't you a cop? Shouldn't you be helping civilians at the police station?" she asked.

"All the civilians and officers are dead," James spoke up, "there's no survivors at the police station."

She stared at him for the longest time. He had to be lying. Raccoon's police force was better than any town she had ever lived in. She opened her mouth to speak.

"We're going to the hospital for supplies, then we're getting the hell out of here," James cut her off.

She nodded, still in disbelief that the police had failed.

__

Oh don't be so shocked. Like they were ever that reliable, just like that one-

She shook her head.

"Let's get moving," William ordered.

The hospital was a lot closer than they thought. William had been kind enough to show them a shortcut, one that was enemy-free.

The building loomed over them. James knew the building well, despite the fact that he hadn't been there in a while. It was the same hospital were Debbie had given birth to Daniel. The memory made him smile. She was tired and soaked with sweat, but when he came in she smiled and showed him the tiny, fidgeting baby in her arms. He stood there in stunned silence as she placed the baby into his arms and he held it close to his heart. It was the happiest moment of his life.

Then, six years later, came the saddest moment of his life. The day he woke up in this exact hospital and was told that his son had died. He remembered the funeral. How much he cried at seeing his child's gentle, pale face. Debbie cried worse than he did-

"James? Are you okay?" William asked. Bethany was waiting impatiently for them near the hospital doors.

"Yeah. I'm fine," James smiled sadly and forced himself to put his memories behind him. This hospital had given and taken so much from him. He didn't feel like he was strong enough to step inside.

But somehow he did.

They walked down the hallway, side-by-side. William kept glancing behind him, while James and Bethany kept their weapons out in case they needed them.

"Some of the lights are still on. Any luck that there might be people still around?" Bethany asked, breaking the silence.

"There might be," was all James said. It was quiet again.

Bethany grew restless at the lack of conversation. Hell, it wasn't really the lack of conversation that bothered her, just lack of sound. It made her uneasy, especially in a situation like this.

"You don't talk much?" she asked him.

"I talk plenty. I just don't have very much to say right now," he shrugged. He looked over and saw a long hallway lined with patient rooms. Most of the lights overhead had been knocked out, giving the hallway a much darker and sinister atmosphere. Only two lights remained on. One was at the end of the corridor, eerily circling the area where an empty wheelchair remained. The other was in the middle of the hall, its light capturing the two rooms that stood on opposite sides of the hallway. He recognized the room on the right.

__

Is that the room where Debbie gave birth? Or is that the room I was in after the car crash?

Or was that the room Daniel died in?

He couldn't remember. I knew it was one of the three, because the hallway felt so familiar to him.

It sent chills down his spine.

"So, how about you? Do you talk at all?" a irritated voice interrupted. James looked over his shoulder and saw Bethany trying to provoke William into talking to her. He wasn't sure what to think of the newest addition to their party. She might have saved his life, but she just seemed so pushy.

__

Quite the looker though, eh James?

He mentally slapped himself as soon as the comment slipped into his mind. He felt guilty afterwards. He was married, he didn't need to be chasing after anymore women.

Bethany was asking William question after question, ranging from his career to his personal life. He shyly tried to answer every one, stammering and blushing when she got too personal. She had a good laugh at his embarrassment. It was obvious he wasn't very suave with the ladies.

There was a loud crash from upstairs that startled everyone. James shushed everyone and they silently listened for anymore sounds.

There were faint footsteps. It was hard to detect where they were coming from.

"Survivors?" Bethany whispered. James didn't know.

The sound faded. They continued down the hallway, this time remaining silent. The end of the hall seemed so far to James. He was eager to grab the medical supplies and get out. If there were zombies in this building too, he didn't want to meet them. The hall bent to the left, and as soon as James turned the corner, he smashed into something.

Bethany screamed, and he felt the thing clawing at him. He frantically pushed it away from him, grabbed his gun and aimed-

And realized he was aiming at a person.

It was a man with dark skin wearing a doctor's uniform. He had black hair and a thick moustache. He quickly stumbled to his feet. His eyes widen in fear when he saw that James had a gun pointed at him.

"W-wait! Don't shoot!" he spoke in a thick accent. He held his arms up in surrender.

James lowered the gun.

"I…Sorry. I thought you were one of those zombies," he said.

"No, though they are around. This place isn't safe," the doctor replied.

"Uh, I'm sorry, but who are you?" Bethany asked. The doctor wiped his forehead with his sleeve. He looked like he had been through hell.

"You can call me Dr. Hursh."


	8. A Brief Reflection

Author's Note: Huzzah! It's done. Fastest I've gotten a chapter finished, I think. Lady Frost1, I'm glad you like James. Before this story, the rough draft of his character had originally been closer to Kevin's than Leon's ;) There's no action here (sorry action fans! I'll make it up to you!), because this chapter still sets the stage for the events to come. Lots of Hursh dialogue, and some angst! So enjoy!

Dr. Hursh quickly escorted the three survivors into his office. As soon as they stepped inside he locked the door. The office was in a disarray. There was papers strewn everywhere and medical equipment lying around. The most odd object they saw was a blood pack resting on top of the doctor's desk.

William was the first to ask the question that had been on everyone's mind.

"Are you the only doctor left?"

"Yes, unfortunately. All the other doctors either left or died," Hursh replied, "it's a shame that it all came down to this."

"Are there anymore survivors?" James asked.

"I think there's still one left. A young girl was brought in a couple days before the riots broke out. She's on the second floor, but I don't know if she's still alive. It's very dangerous past the first floor," Hursh said. He wiped the sweat from his forehead again.

"Wait, you just left her all alone up there?!" Bethany asked in shock.

"No, no!" Hursh held up his hands in protest, "I've been trying to get to her, but I can't get the lift to work properly. I need to go down and restore power to the lift."

"Where can the power be restored?" James asked.

"The first-floor basement. You'd have to take the stairs to get down there," Hursh said.

"I'm sorry if I'm stating the obvious here, but couldn't you just take the stairs to the second floor?" Bethany asked. The doctor sighed.

"I've already tried that, but the second floor is blocked off. The lift is the only way to get up there," Hursh said.

"Blocked off? By what?" James asked.

"Part of the hallway collapsed. It's a real mess," Hursh said. He shuddered, remembering the reason why it had collapsed in the first place. They just didn't have enough power to stop that monstrous thing-

"Anyway, all this talking isn't saving that girl any faster."

James nodded. The doctor was obviously through with answering anymore questions.

"Okay, I'll go turn on the power," James volunteered. Before he could leave, the doctor stopped him.

"Wait, you need a key to unlock the passageway to the basement," Hursh dropped the basement key into his hand.

"Thanks," James slipped it into his pocket. Hursh retreated to the back of the office and began rummaging through the mess on the back table. Papers fell onto the floor, but the doctor didn't seem to notice. He pulled out a slender, black flashlight. He flicked it on to make sure it was still working. He then turned it off and handed it to James.

"Take this too. It's very dark down there. I doubt I have to tell you this, but be careful. The second floor isn't the only thing that's dangerous," Hursh warned.

"Don't worry, I'll be fine. I'll be back in a few minutes," said James. _At least, I hope it's just a few minutes…_

"I'm being very serious here. There's something wandering around this hospital, something a lot worse than the zombies. I can't really describe it, but I don't want you getting caught by this monster. If you run into it, don't fight it. Get back here as quickly as you can," Hursh said.

James gulped, but he tried to not let any fear show.

"Okay. I'll do that."

"If you don't mind, I'd like to keep your friend here for a minute. I couldn't help but notice how his injury was patched up. I'm afraid his arm will heal wrong if it was kept in that position," Hursh said, motioning to William.

James flushed.

"A…ah, well, I'm not exactly a good medic…" he said, embarrassed. Hursh laughed.

"That's quite all right. It's easily fixed," Hursh looked over to William, "is this okay with you? I just didn't think you'd want your arm to heal wrong."

"Hey, go ahead. Anything to fix it," William said.

"That's good. Okay, hurry back. I'm worried about that girl," Hursh said. James nodded and left.

As James walked further away from Hursh's office, he heard footsteps behind him. Alertness kicked in and he turned his head around. To his relief, he saw that it was only Bethany.

"What are you doing?" he asked. She raised an eyebrow.

"What does it look like I'm doing? I thought you might need some backup," she said.

"All I'm going to do is turn the power back on. I don't really need any backup," he said. She looked like she was going to be angry with him, but instead her red lips curved into a mischievous smile.

"Oh, I get it. You're the big strong man, so you don't need a little girl like me in the way," she purred, "am I right?"

He looked at her suspiciously. _What is she trying to do? Is she just trying to mess with me?_

"No, that's not what I meant…" he actually wanted to take a small detour before he headed downstairs. There was a place he wanted to visit alone.

"Nah, it's okay. I understand," she said, "I'll go stay with William. He doesn't seem like the type of guy who can take a lot of pain."

"You'd be surprised," he said, sticking up for the young officer. She chuckled.

"Well, see you around. Don't take too long," she turned away from him and started walking back towards Hursh's office.

James felt uncomfortable. _Was that what she was aiming for? It sure as hell worked…_

He pushed his uneasy feelings aside and continued on his way. He stopped at the eerie hall that he had passed earlier.

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Room 105...

That number sounded familiar, but he didn't know why.

He knew it was wrong. He knew he should be trying to turn the power back on, rather than trying to stir up old memories. He knew that the survivor upstairs was more important than what was in that empty room.

But he had to know. He had to see inside just once.

He swallowed his fear and walked down the strangely-lit hallway. He gently pushed open the door and went inside.

It looked like any other hospital room. Everything was in perfect place, a sign that the room hadn't been used in a while. The curtains had been opened, allowing him to see outside. The beautiful night sky had been replaced with a dark sheet of clouds. Below him, the city looked like it was burning.

He turned away, walking over to the bed. He sat down, quietly gazing off into space.

__

"This…this is our son?" James asked. The woman nodded, smiling. The pink thing wrapped in a blue blanket gave a soft cry.

"He wants to meet his father," she said. He eagerly walked over to her and she placed the baby in his arms. Its eyes were closed and its hands were curled into tiny little fists. It cried, louder this time, as it was taken from its comfortable, safe place. James looked at Debbie worriedly, fearing that the baby didn't like him. She laughed at his concerned expression, then took his hand and placed it gently under the baby's head. Its cries faded and it drifted off to sleep in its father's arms.

"What are we going to name him?" he asked. He honestly hadn't even considered a name.

Debbie smiled and shifted in her bed. She looked so exhausted.

"I like the name Daniel," she said.

"Daniel?" James stared down at the baby. He smiled, "Okay, we'll name him Daniel."

He looked lovingly at his baby boy. He was a father now. He still couldn't believe it.

"Daniel…"

Another memory drifted into his head. One that he had forgotten a long time ago. It was after the car accident. He remembered storming out of the room where he had been kept in. No, not storming. He was limping, his leg was hurt. His side was stitched up and wrapped in bandages. There was a large band-aid on his forehead. His arm was bloody from where he ripped out the IV. There were doctors and nurses yelling at him.

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"Sir! You can't come in here!"

"The hell I can't! Where is my son?!"

"Are you Mr. Turner?"

"Yes! Let me see my son! Please!"

"Mr. Turner, your son is dead. You can't see him."

"No! Your lying! Let me see him, dammit! He can't be dead! He can't be!"

He shoved the nurse out of the way. She yelped and stumbled as he forced his way through. A couple of doctors leaped up and tried to restrain him without injuring him further. He fought like a dog, but before they were able to drag him out, he saw a bed.

A small figure was laying on it. A white sheet with blood stains on it was over the child's head. He saw strands of red hair sticking out above the sheet. He stared in shock.

"Daniel?" his voice was weak.

The figure didn't answer.

He broke down crying. The doctors dragged the grieving man to his room. All the way he fought weakly, mumbling his son's name over and over and trying to clear away the flood of tears that clouded his vision. They tried their best to comfort him, but it didn't work. His child was dead.

The memory faded. James realized that his hands were pressed tightly against his head, his fingers digging into his skull. He allowed his arms fall limply to his sides.

It had been this room, hadn't it? The room Daniel died in.

He reached into his pack and pulled out the family photo. He looked at the three smiling faces in the picture.

Tears hit the glass case the picture was in.

It wasn't fair.

He wiped his eyes. Coming to this room had been a mistake. No matter how many memories he had of Daniel, it wouldn't bring him back.

He put the picture away.

'I've got to go save that girl,' he thought. He needed to get to the basement, needed to get out of this room. He was wasting too much time here.

He got up, suddenly feeling very tired. He walked out the door. Right before the door closed behind him, he thought he heard a soft voice speak.

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"Daddy…"


	9. Baby Elegy

Author's Notes: There's chapter would've come out earlier, but I was a bit busy this Saturday. This chapter focuses a lot on Bethany. I wasn't going to reveal so much about her character so soon, but…y'know…Anyway, the second half is about James' adventures in the basement, and it gives you a clue to what they're about to face. Keep in mind what happens to James at the end of the chapter, because he's going to be in for some trouble (why do I torture him so?). Thanks for the reviews, and enjoy!

Bethany stretched lazily as she wandered aimlessly around the first floor. She didn't go back to the office like she told James she would. Even though it was probably somewhat safer, her curiosity had caused her to explore.

Although she didn't show it, she was a little ticked off at James' attempt to get rid of her. She didn't like it when people told her to get lost, even if it was in a nice way. Her revenge was satisfying enough though. She loved seeing his discomfort, the way his face got red when she toyed with him.

__

I really should go see how dear William is doing.

William was shy, that much she knew. It was kind of cute when he blushed furiously when she asked about his sexual preference. She meant the question as a joke, but he struggled his best to answer. He stumbled all over his words until he managed a quiet, embarrassed "straight."

He seemed to be very insecure about himself. How he was a cop, she didn't know.

__

He's got charm to him though…

James still remained a mystery to her. He was a bit too quiet and serious for her tastes. Ever since they arrived, he seemed very depressed. She couldn't help but wonder what his problem was.

There was a thick, glass window next to her. She casually glanced inside. When she saw what was there, she stopped and leaned closer for a better look.

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It's a nursery.

Inside there were several hospital-style cribs lined up in neat rows. Each crib had a blue or pink blanket on it, messily spread-out over the tiny beds. Each one was empty. No babies, no nurses busily taking care of them. It was almost sad.

She gently pressed her hand against her stomach, squeezing it gently. There was no movement, no life, nothing.

For the first time that night, she felt just as melancholy as James had when they entered the hospital.

She was glad that there was no babies in that room. It probably just would have made her feel worse.

She knew this hospital. It held a painful place in her heart. That one night that changed everything, her decision that changed everything. Those two words she spoke that had haunted her ever since.

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"Do it."

Now there was nothing there. Some sick part of her was glad, she wasn't ready for parenthood yet. The other part regretted it, taunted her about it-

__

Which I learned to accept and ignore. Come on Beth, you promised yourself you wouldn't think about it anymore. It's a thing of the past now.

Something caught her eye. Far back in the nursery, there was something wrapped up in a pink blanket. It didn't move or make any sounds.

'No way. It couldn't be,' she thought in disbelief. She found herself walking around and entering the nursery. She pushed open the door that read "employees only" and hurried to the back of the room. She stopped at the crib, looking at the baby-sized figure that was hidden under the blanket.

'They didn't get all the babies out of this room?' she thought. It looked like it was sleeping.

She reached down and gently tugged the blanket off the baby. Once she got a glimpse of the body, she choked back a scream.

The baby was dead. Its skin was ghostly white and its stomach had been partially eaten, showing whatever was left of its entrails. Its small mouth was open, frozen in a permanent cry of pain. Blood covered the crib where its tiny, naked body laid. Something had been _eating _it.

She covered her mouth with her hand, trying to hold back the bile that was rising in her throat. She backed up, knocking over an empty crib.

There came a soft moan from the other side of the room. Too distracted with the baby, she failed to notice that she wasn't the only one in the nursery. There was a female nurse, rising from her spot on the floor. Blood was caked around her mouth.

'She…she killed that baby?' she thought to herself, horrified. The nurse stumbled toward her with her arms outstretched. Bethany stepped back as the nurse swiped at her. Before she could recover from her attack, Bethany slammed the butt of her shotgun into the nurse's skull. She shrieked and fell. Bethany pressed one foot into her back and aimed the muzzle of the shotgun directly at her skull. Adrenaline was pumping through her veins.

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This is for killing the baby, you bitch. Really, she had no room to talk.

The gun bucked in Bethany's hands. Blood, brain matter, and vital head parts were now all over the floor. The adrenaline wore down, and now she found herself looking at the disgusting mess she caused.

If the baby's corpse hadn't caused her to be sick, the mess leftover from the dead nurse had. She turned away, vomit spilling onto the floor. She heaved until she felt like she had just thrown up her entire stomach.

She had used her shotgun to kill zombies before, but she never stopped to actually look at what she did. There was only a spray of blood, followed by her running past as quickly as she could. It never looked like this.

She couldn't take it anymore. She retreated out of the nursery, slamming the door behind her and rubbing her forehead.

__

I should go back to Hursh's office.

Yes. She'd do that.

James could have never guessed what exactly had been blocking the second floor. He decided to try the stairs, just to see if there was some chance he could squeeze through. As he ascended the stairs, he noticed trickles of blood were all over the staircase. A sense of dread filled him more and more with each step he took.

When he reached the top, he was surprised at what he found.

The door leading to the second floor was blocked off, all right. A blockade of plaster, steel, and-

__

Corpses.

There were several dead bodies. They consisted of doctors and patients. Some of the corpses were piled on top of each other with bullet holes in them. One of the doctors had been impaled. The rail from the staircase had been bent and shoved straight through his back. His arm was dangling, a gun was right underneath it.

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What could have done this?

In the doctor's pocket was a box of handgun ammunition. James felt bad, but he took the ammo. He doubted the doctor needed it anymore.

There was a loud set of moans behind the door. It was a clear reminder that the girl was still in danger.

He went back downstairs to the basement. He opened the door, and indeed it was dark. Pitch-black even.

The flashlight went on.

James had never feared the dark as much as he did right then. The fact that he couldn't see anything around him was extremely dangerous. A zombie could come up behind him and take a chunk out of him before he could turn around.

He used the flashlight to navigate the long hallway, frequently using it to check around him. There were several doors to choose from, probably even more that he missed due to his limited vision. He stumbled around until he found a door labeled "Power Supply". He opened the door and went inside.

He searched the room with his flashlight and found the panel that supplied power to the elevator. At least, he hoped that was it. He walked over to it with the slight feeling like he was wading in something. He ignored the feeling and shined his flashlight down on the box. There were sixteen buttons arranged in four rows. There were two buttons above them. One was green and the other was red. Currently, only the red button was lit.

He kept his flashlight trained on the buttons.

__

It's like a puzzle…

'Strange,' he thought. He'd never seen anything like this before. He reached out and touched a button. Three of them lit up.

He looked hard, trying to detect a pattern. He touched another button. Three more lit up.

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Oh! I get it!

He began pressing several buttons until all of them had been lit. The red button flicked off as the green one came on. He could now use the elevator to get to the second floor.

He felt victorious, but it was short-lived when he felt something on his leg. He frantically tried brushing it off, his fingers touching what felt like slime.

Then he felt a sharp pain. He grabbed whatever was attached to his leg and jerked it off. He threw it and it landed with a sickening slap on the other side of the room.

He heard disgusting, slimy noises coming from all around him. He shined his flashlight around the room.

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Oh shit…

Now he saw what he had been wading in. There were leeches piling up all over the floor. There were even more covering the walls. It was a horrifying sight to see. He backed up towards the door, feeling several of those fat, slimy bastards crunch under his feet.

The lid of the vent suddenly flew off and more leeches spilled out. It looked like something else was trying to crawl out of it.

'Get out! Get out!' his mind screamed. He turned around, struggling to reach the door. He ignored the crunching of leeches under his boots and brushed the leeches off the door. He slammed the door behind him, leaning against it as he did.

__

Damn, we've got leeches to deal with too?

The flashlight he was holding slipped out of his hand. He cursed as it hit the ground. To make matters worse, the flashlight went out as soon as it hit the ground.

Panicked, he bent down and felt around for it. While searching, his foot accidentally connected with it, sending it skidding away from him. He stood up as he heard a crash from the room he exited.

'Don't panic. Don't panic. Just remember the way you came in,' he thought. He tried to remember where the stairs were. He drew a picture in his head, an imaginary map.

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Right…it would be on my right.

He slowly turned to his right and walked down the hallway with his hands in front of him. He tried his hardest to see through the darkness, and for a moment he thought he could make out shapes. His side smashed into something hard. He hissed in pain and felt to see what it was.

It was a metal tray.

The door from behind him opened. He stiffened in fear.

'Just keep moving,' he ordered himself. He moved as quietly as he could to the end of the hall. When he felt wall again, he slid himself over to where the door was and opened it. To his relief, the stairs were well-lit. He ran the rest of the way.

James was never so happy to see light when he emerged on the first floor. His heart was racing from his experience in the basement. What exactly had been down there other then the leeches?

"James!" he looked up and saw Bethany running towards him.

"Bethany? What are you doing here?" he asked.

"Well, we noticed the power for the elevator had been restored. So I came out to see if you…oh god James, look at yourself," her face wrinkled in disgust.

He did, and he saw that his legs were covered in leeches.

"Ugh, there's leeches down there too? Disgusting," he wasn't paying attention to her, instead he was frantically trying to get all the leeches off. Bethany had read somewhere that peeling a leech off would only make the bite worse. She quickly grabbed his arm.

"Let's get you to Hursh. I'm sure he'll help you get those things off you," she said. He responded with a noise that could only be described as a whimper. She chuckled, feeling sorry for him. She guided him towards the office.

"Geez, men are such babies."


	10. The Walking Tragedy

Author's Note: This chapter introduces the one of the new characters I was talking about. This character is probably one of my favorites, though I was kinda disappointed with the way I introduced her. I'm hoping to go deeper into her story and true personality with the next few chapters. I hope you'll like her too. This story also has more leech-covered James. Poor James. You have to feel sorry for him. I'm going to try to pick up the pace. So thanks to those who reviewed my last chapter (and the ones who reviewed any of my chapters!), you really help fuel the story. I hope you all will like this chapter, so I'll shut up now. Enjoy!

"So, how long do you think it'll be before the cast comes off?" William asked, glancing at his arm. Dr. Hursh had placed a hard, plaster cast around it to set the bone. His arm was back in a sling again and the cast was uncomfortable, hot, and itchy. He hated it.

Hursh looked up from what he was doing, slowly realizing he had been asked a question.

"Hmm…I'd say about six weeks," Hursh answered. William groaned.

"I can't even imagine what my arm is going to look like after I get this thing off," he grumbled.

"Just be thankful it wasn't any worse. At least you still have a limb," Hursh said. He kept silent after that. The doctor had a point.

The door opened and Bethany entered with James. Their eyes fell on what was attached to him. Hursh was shocked, William was horrified.

"Oh my, bring him over here. I'll see what I can find to get those off without making the wounds worse," Hursh quickly searched through his things. Bethany led him over to an empty chair next to William and he slumped into it. The look on his face was pathetic.

William stared at him for several minutes. Then he finally spoke.

"_Leeches_, James?"

James looked at him, discomfort was written all over him.

"Yes."

Hursh laid some equipment beside him and bent next to him. He eyed the equipment suspiciously. The doctor didn't say anything and began removing the leeches.

"Someone needs to go to the second floor while I work on this man," Hursh said.

"I'll go," Bethany spoke up. She knew she'd have to anyway. James was out of action, and William wouldn't be able to do much with just one arm.

"Are you sure about this? It's dangerous up there," William said. He would have offered to go with her. He wanted to go with her. That was his duty as a cop. He felt angry at himself for not being able to help fight. That he had to be a burden to them instead. Some cop he was.

"Don't worry. It's not like I'm going to be spending a whole lot of time up there. I'm just getting the girl and leaving," she said.

They heard James yelp as a leech was painfully removed from his ankle. He looked at the doctor.

"Sorry, stubborn little bugger wouldn't let go," Hursh said.

James said nothing. She smiled.

"Besides, I'd rather have someone be here for poor James," she said jokingly. He glared at her, not finding the situation humorous at all.

She looked at Hursh, her face suddenly turning serious.

"What room is she in?"

"Room 203," he answered. She nodded.

"Do you have enough ammunition?" William asked.

"Of course," she said. She patted her jean pocket, "I've got a few more shells. Just in case I run out. I'll see you boys later."

"Bethany," James said, wincing slightly as another leech came off.

"Yeah?"

"Be careful."

She merely winked at him, then she walked towards the door and exited. For a few minutes, the men were silent. That is, until James spoke up.

"How many of those damn things are still left?" he asked.

"There's still a few. A couple on your back too," Hursh said. James sulked and didn't speak after that.

Bethany stood in the elevator as it rose to the second floor. The soft mechanical whirl was the only sound that accompanied her, but she didn't hear it. Instead, she indulged in her own thoughts.

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That girl is dead.

She had to be, if the second floor was really that dangerous. Zombies worked surprisingly fast when they knew prey was near. They could burst down a door quicker than she could count to three. If they knew about the girl, she'd be dead within a few minutes.

Though, her optimistic side still thought that there was some slight chance she was alive. Perhaps she found a decent hiding spot, though it would make her harder to find.

The doors opened. She didn't even realize the elevator had stopped. She quickly went for her shotgun, prepared to gun down any threat.

When she stepped out of the elevator, she wasn't disappointed. There were a lot of zombies, but not as many as she imagined.

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Works for me.

Three zombies came at her from her right. There were more coming from her left. She smiled to herself. It was these kinds of situations that her good old shotgun came in handy.

She waited until the three zombies were in very close range of her shotgun and fired. Two of them went down. She stepped back as the third one lunged at her, only to feel a pair of hands grab her from behind. She heard loud moans from behind her.

Damn! They caught up sooner than I expected!

Before the zombie behind her could bite her, she slammed it into the wall. It didn't let go. The other zombies were closing in on her. She reached up, grabbed the sickly hands, and jerked as hard as she could.

She managed to peel them off and free herself. The zombie stumbled, and she backed up and threw her entire weight against the creature. She knocked it directly into its comrades. As they struggled to stand, she looked behind her. There was a room 204...

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Room 203! There it is!

She abandoned the zombies and ran towards room 203. Her feet skidded across the tiles as she nearly passed it. She dashed into the room and slammed the door shut.

Elizabeth Parker tilted her head under the faucet, drinking the cool water that spilled into her open mouth. The doctor or nurses hadn't come to check up on her yet, and she doubted they ever would. The last they came to see her was in the afternoon. They didn't even come when she had pressed the call button. She soon found out the reason why when she curiously left her bed and peered out the crack of the door.

Outside there had been horrible monsters that took on the form of humans. She thought at first she was having another nightmare, but the floor was too cold. Her room was too cold. It couldn't possibly be a dream.

As she splashed water onto her face, she faintly recalled waking up in this hospital. The nurses had been very kind to her, giving her all kinds of attention. Well, it was their job to do that, but it still felt nice. The doctor had been nice to her as well. He asked her a lot of questions, half she couldn't even answer because of being too groggy to stay awake. She remembered him gently placing a hand on her forehead, telling her she would be fine. His words were so comforting. She slept peacefully after that.

__

He…he was like an angel.

She wished she remembered his name.

Her stomach growled. She hadn't eaten since noon. She'd probably starve to death. That is, if the monsters didn't kill her first.

__

But it doesn't matter to you, does it Elizabeth? A soft voice spoke. So gentle in its tone, yet so cruel in its words. She had heard it before. Was that her voice speaking?

__

Or maybe it does matter. You really don't want to die, do you? What's wrong, don't you want the pain to end?

'Shut up,' she thought. The voice didn't speak after that. She looked into the mirror. Her face was pale, just like the rest of her body. She was smaller and thinner then most kids her age. She was sixteen right now, she'd be turning seventeen in a couple of months.

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Not like it matters…

She lifted her hands to try to smooth out her messy, long blonde hair. As she did, she felt the tug of the IV that was hooked into her. She couldn't help but hate it, it made it such a pain to move around.

She shivered again as the cold air from her room hit her. The patient gown she was wearing didn't offer any kind of warmth. Her clothes were resting on the table near her bed. She wished she could put them on, but she was told that she couldn't until the IV was removed.

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Like anyone is going to come up here and remove it.

She heard her door open and slam shut. Fear rose in her chest as she backed away from the door of the bathroom. It was a monster. One of them had finally gotten in. She nearly tripped over her IV machine and closed the bathroom door. She tried to hide herself in the shower, pulling the curtain closed to conceal her.

She heard footsteps from the other room. They sounded quicker than a zombie's, but then again, she didn't know what those monsters were capable of doing.

The door to the bathroom creaked opened. She prayed that it wouldn't find her. There was a shadow moving about on the other side of the shower curtain. She watched as the arm slowly extended to the end of the shower curtain.

__

Nonononononono-

The shower curtain was ripped open and she threw herself to the floor, drawing her knees close to her chest. Bracing herself for whatever was in there with her to rip her open. She closed her eyes tightly, feeling the presence of _it_ next to her trembling body.

"Who are you?" a calm, female voice asked. Her eyes slowly opened after the thing spoke. Confusion clouded her mind as a dozen questions filled her head. She uncurled herself from her fetal position and looked up. There was a woman standing there, holding a shotgun.

"Well? Can you tell me your name?" she asked.

"I…I'm-" she stammered.

"Come on, spit it out already!" she snapped. Her harsh tone made Elizabeth shudder.

"E-Elizabeth," she squeaked. The woman's face softened. She kneeled down next to her.

"Don't be scared, I'm here to save you. My name's Bethany," Elizabeth looked at her questioningly. Bethany helped her to her feet and led her back to her room. There were no monsters around. The woman walked over to the table, scooped up her clothes, and handed them to her. Elizabeth looked at the clothes, then to Bethany.

"Um, b-but what about my IV?" Elizabeth asked. Bethany blinked.

"Oh! I forgot. I'm sorry," she took her arm to remove the IV. As she did, she noticed that there were marks all over the girl's arm. A few cuts here, a few bruises there. She wondered if there was more.

"What happened to you?" Bethany asked softly. Elizabeth looked away from her.

"I…uhm, got into a fight with some kids at school," she said. Bethany somehow felt that her story wasn't true. Elizabeth didn't seem like the type of kid who would get into a fight. She just seemed too passive.

"Really," Bethany said, carefully removing the IV from her arm. Elizabeth nodded, but she still wasn't looking Bethany in the eyes. After it was out, she turned around.

"Quickly get dressed. We have to get out of here now," Bethany said. Elizabeth hesitated, but then she started putting on her normal clothes. It was a simple, orange T-shirt with shorts. It was the way she always dressed. Nothing ever fancy or stylish.

"Okay, I'm done," she said. Bethany turned around.

"Let's go then. Just stay close to me, okay?" Elizabeth nodded. They began to walk towards the door.

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Why is she saving me? Why does she bother?

Bethany readied her shotgun. The door opened, and the deafening sound of the monsters' cries filled Elizabeth's ears. Afraid, she nearly turned to flee back into her room until Bethany caught her arm. She held her close to her as she blasted through the monsters, clearing a way from her room to the elevator.

They scrambled inside with Bethany repeatedly pushing the door close button. The monsters gathered around them, fighting and pushing at one other like animals to get inside. The door was closing. Too slow, too slow, too slow-

"Take this, you damn freaks!" Bethany screamed as she fired into the crowd. She successfully knocked them back, just as the doors shut. The mechanical whirl started up as the elevator descended.

Bethany pulled some shells out of her pocket and began loading them into her shotgun.

"I hope I find more ammunition soon. It was hard enough to find just these," she mumbled. Elizabeth didn't speak, she kept watching the elevator doors.

"Hey Eliza-"

The elevator jerked violently. Elizabeth cried out and fell forward. Bethany caught her and staggered back. The lights flickered before going out completely. Bethany looked around, then walked over and pressed the open door button a couple of times.

Nothing.

She moved over to the doors and tried prying them open, but she wasn't strong enough to open them. Frustrated, she slammed her fist against the door and looked at Elizabeth.

"We're stuck."


	11. Leeches and Elevators

Author's Note: Mpfh…I didn't like this chapter so much. It's a little shorter than usual. I can't help but feel like I've left a couple potential plotholes. Anyway, this is my attempt at picking up the pace of the story. I hope you like it. There's a Resident Evil: Outbreak character cameo in this. It's very brief though. Maybe there will be more cameos? I dunno, we'll see. Thanks to the folks that reviewed. I hope you're enjoying my story, enRAGEd! James was trained in the Air Force, but your questioning it did give me an idea for what's going to happen later on. So thanks!

They were in there for what felt like hours. Bethany was yelling, pounding on the door, trying to make as much noise as possible. Maybe somehow James and William would hear them, but it didn't seem like it was working.

Finally, she gave up and slumped to the floor.

The darkness was suffocating them.

Elizabeth was afraid of dark, enclosed spaces like these. She huddled far away from the door, trying to fight off the panic. She just had to hold on a bit longer. They were coming for them.

__

Right?

"Elizabeth? Are you okay?" Bethany asked.

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No, no! Get me out of here! I can't take it! I can't take it! Help me!

"I'm fine," her voice cracked. Despite the darkness, she could make out the concerned look on Bethany's face. She started to edge over to her when something banged against the door, scaring them both.

"Is anyone in there?" William's voice said from the other side. Bethany had never been so happy to hear his voice. She moved closer to the doors.

"William! It's me!" she said.

"Bethany?"

"Yes, who else would it be?!" she retorted, "listen, we're stuck. The doors won't open. You have to find a way to get us out of here."

"Wait, are you okay? Do you have the girl with you?" he asked.

"I'm fine, and I have the girl. She's unharmed," she responded.

"Okay. I'm going to go find something to pry the doors open. Just hang in there a bit longer," he said.

The elevator groaned.

"W-William, you better hurry your ass up," Bethany said, her voice hinting at her fear. Footsteps echoed from the other side of the elevator. They quickly faded, leaving the two girls alone.

"Well, I hope you're not too afraid of the dark," Bethany said.

Elizabeth smiled weakly.

"That should be the last of them," Hursh said, deposing of the last leech.

"Thank god," James said. He looked down at his legs, they were covered in bandages. Next to him he had deposited his backpack. It was getting to be more of a burden than an actual help.

"Those little bastards made me bleed," he complained, "say, how many leeches were brought into this hospital?"

"Around fifty, the last time anyone checked," Hursh answered. James recalled the incident in the basement.

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God, there had to be way more than fifty. They practically covered the floors and walls…

Something wasn't adding up. Before he could ask anymore questions, the lights flickered. Some of them died out, leaving the room poorly lit.

"That's just great. Now the power's going out," James mumbled, then he remembered the elevator, "shit!"

"What's the matter?" Hursh asked.

"The elevator! Bethany's still up there!"

"James!"

William ran inside with a panic-stricken look on his face. He told them that he was going to look for medical supplies, but by the looks of it, he was empty-handed.

__

Which means there was a monster, or-

"Bethany and the girl are stuck in the elevator! I need help getting them out!"

James' fear had been confirmed. He stood up, ready to take charge of the situation.

"Lead me to 'em. Doc, I think I'm going to need your help for this," he said.

Hursh simply nodded and followed the men out.

The three of them surrounded the elevator.

"Bethany, you in there?" James asked. There was a moment of hesitation. Finally, a female voice spoke up.

"James? James, is that you? Open the door!" Bethany said.

"Are you okay?" he asked.

"I won't be okay if you don't open this damn door!" she snarled. James took that as a hint she was unharmed. He gripped one side of the elevator door, while William and Hursh grabbed the other. They struggled to pull the doors apart. A small crack appeared, which became big enough that Bethany could get her hand through.

Unfortunately, it didn't get bigger than that. The doors refused to budge after that.

"Ugh! I think this is as far as they'll go. We need something to force them open," William said.

"What do you mean this is as far as they'll go?!" Bethany exclaimed from inside.

"Is there anything we can use to pry the doors open? A crowbar, maybe?" he asked out loud. The question was really directed towards the doctor.

"I don't know. During the riots, a lot of stuff became disorganized. I don't even know if there's a crowbar here. We might have to compromise," said Hursh.

"Fine, we'll just have to look for something, anything we can use," James said.

"This is bullshit!" came the loud complaint from inside.

A faint noise came from underneath them. A progression of what sounded like screams that gradually grew louder. The sound of flesh against metal. Over and over.

Then it stopped.

Hursh's eyes grew wide..

"N-no! Not yet! It was supposed to hold longer!" he cried. The other survivors turned their attention to him. Realizing he was in the spotlight but no longer caring, he tried desperately to calm his fear. It failed. He stepped away from their suspicious stares.

"I…I have to warn them! I have to go!" he cried.

"Them? Who's them? There's more survivors?!" James asked. _Why didn't he tell us?_

But Hursh was already running further down the hall, his cries were loud enough for them to hear perfectly.

"They weren't supposed to be out yet! They weren't supposed to come out!"

James looked at William.

"William, I need you to go follow him," he said.

William silently nodded. He pursued the doctor, leaving James with Bethany and the girl.

"What the hell was that all about?" Bethany asked.

"I don't know. I've got a bad feeling about all this though," he said, "I'm going to go find something to get the doors open. I'll be back soon."

"Okay, just don't take too long," she sighed, "I think something's wrong with the kid. She's shaking pretty bad. I think she's scared."

"I'll make it quick. I promise," he said. He dashed away from the elevator, trying to think where he should go first. The noise from underneath him started up again.

__

Just what the hell is down there? James hoped he wouldn't have to find out.

William had lost track of the doctor. The last he saw of him was when he entered the door leading to the third floor. Along the way, he saw why the second floor was inaccessible. He turned his head away in disgust at the sight of it.

When he reached the third floor, Hursh was nowhere in sight. He tried calling for him, but there wasn't any answer. He walked around, distracted by the disaster area that surrounded him. There were corpses littering the floor, wheelchairs were overturned in pools of blood, and hospital equipment was strewn all over the place.

He ventured through the hall and was forced to take a left, where he was led to a patient's room. He decided to enter, hoping there would be something he could use to defend himself with.

He shivered the moment he came in. The window was ajar, allowing cold air to fill the room. A locker was near the window. Leaning next to it was a crutch. He picked it up.

'This actually wouldn't be a bad weapon,' he thought, 'though I'd need two hands to actually swing it.'

How much he had taken the use of both his limbs for granted.

He moved over to the locker, hoping to find something useful inside. As it slid open, he found a loaded gun lying at the bottom.

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Jackpot!

He scooped the item up and aimed it at an imaginary target. He wouldn't need two hands to use it, reloading however…

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Don't worry about it right now. At least you have something.

Suddenly, the lid of the ceiling vent violently flew off, clattering to the ground. Something was coming out of the vent. It looked like…like…

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Leeches?!

The thing dropped out from the vent. It was huge. It was somewhat shaped like a human, the way it stood on both legs and the way held its arms out. The only thing that ruined its human appearance was that the entire creature was made out of leeches. The same ones the doctor had pulled off James.

The door opened, and William's head snapped around. He thought that maybe it was Hursh, or James, or…

The man that stepped through the door was a young, black man. His hair was blonde and curly, hidden under a blue hat. He was wearing a white outfit and a blue jacket with red stripes down the sleeves. William recognized him as a subway employee.

When the man caught sight of the monster, he gasped and staggered away from it. Fear and panic traced his facial features.

William opened his mouth to speak, but the man beat him to it.

"Look out!" he screamed. William had seconds to get out of the way of the giant leech arm that was quickly stretching toward him. He hit the ground as the arm smashed into the wall, leaving a large dent.

"Oh shit! Oh shit! I'm getting out of here!" came the man's terrified voice.

"Wait!" William screamed, but it was too late. The door went shut. He was left alone with the monster. He eyed the bed he was lying next to, and before the monster had a chance to strike, he rolled under it.

He watched the feet of the monster move sluggishly around the bed. It was looking for him. A leech dropped off the beast and made its way towards William. Before it could attach itself to him, he picked it up and threw it as far away as he could. It slapped against the locker, leaving a splatter of blood where it landed. The monster immediately abandoned its search and walked over to the locker. He heard a strange, slurping noise coming from it.

__

Is it licking up the leftover blood?

William crawled closer to see. Sure enough, the monster was lapping up the blood that was left on the locker.

Using this distraction to his advantage, he crawled out from under the bed. The monster wasn't paying attention to him anymore. He backed away from it, holding his newly accquired gun and preparing to fire if it did decide to attack him.

Then he turned and ran for the door.


	12. Phobia

Author's Note: Whoohoo! It's up! Whew, sorry about that. I had to write this story through writer's block. Very hard indeed. I hope you enjoy it anyway though. Anyway, I know that at least one of you is probably going "WTF the Resident Evil hospital doesn't look like the way you described it!" or at least, you will say that with the next few chapters. Sorry about that, I'm kind of making my own layout hangs head in shame. Thanks for the cookie, enRAGEd! As for you, Lost Survivor, what idea did you have in mind?

"James…honey, I really think you should come with me. I'm worried about you."

"Debbie, I'll be fine. I promise I'll be up there in a few days."

"But you heard the news! That disease is spreading everywhere! We need to get out of town!"

"Debbie, you know how the media likes to exaggerate everything. It'll be okay. Go stay with your mother."

"James, you know I couldn't stand to see you in the hospital!"

"You won't. Nothing is going to happen. I'm sure this whole ordeal will be over in a couple of weeks anyway."

"But James…"

James sighed loudly. He wished that somehow he could have gone back to that moment, so he could get into that car with her, and get as far away from this city as they possibly could.

He was really starting to miss her. Hell, they barely had any time together before she decided to go stay with her mother. Now she was safe, and he was trapped in this hellhole with hungry, walking corpses. He couldn't help but envy her.

But he brought it upon himself. He was the fool who decided to stay behind. All because he wanted to have fun in the town where he was raised.

__

Having fun now, James?

He hadn't been able to find a crowbar anywhere. It didn't surprise him. He wasn't expecting it to be that easy. He racked his brain for a solution on what to use to wrench the doors apart.

__

I could try the basement again. There might be something down there that I can use.

He mentally shuddered. That would be his very last resort. Wading through more leeches wasn't a very inviting thought. The sounds they made as hundreds of them came out of hiding were still clear in his mind.

__

Not to mention whatever the hell was down there.

He walked into the waiting room. The floor was covered in blue carpet, a nice change from the tile flooring to which he had grown accustomed. Pictures and paintings decorated the otherwise lifeless, white walls. Some paintings he recognized as replicas of famous artwork. One was a framed picture of Van Gogh's _Starry Night _that was hanging near the recipient's window. There were also photographs hanging up on the walls. James guessed they were of the doctors that worked here.

He spotted a chair that was laying on its side. As he studied it, an idea popped into his head.

__

Would a chair be strong enough to get the elevator opened?

He wasn't sure. He never did this kind of thing before, but he had to try. He walked over to it and pressed one foot into the seat. He gripped a leg of the chair, and with all his strength tried to twist it off.

It took a great deal of struggling and swearing before he finally yanked it off. He tumbled backwards, the leg flew through the air and clattered next to him. He rolled onto his stomach and picked it up. It was a lot smaller than he had hoped.

__

It'll have to do though.

He stood up and began walking back to the elevator. The window broke behind him, shards of glass falling on the floor. He spun around and saw a dog leap through the window. It was covered in hundreds of squirmy-

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Leeches.

It yelped and jerked its head, trying to tear them off with its teeth.

__

It's still alive?

It leaped about frantically, whining and snarling. He could only see its legs and small patches of its face, but by the looks of it he guessed it was a Doberman. He aimed his gun at the animal, hoping that he could shoot some of them off it.

The dog was moving too quickly for him to aim properly. His gun followed it, waiting for an opportunity for it to stop.

The dog paused momentarily to try to chew off more of the leeches. James fired, blasting some of them off its back. It yelped and he was afraid that he might have shot it. It was impossible to tell, because the moment some of the leeches came off, the ones that were left immediately spread out.

__

I'm not going to accomplish anything this way.

He ran over to the squirming animal, making sure he crushed the leeches that were lying weak on the ground. He reached to pull them off, and suddenly found himself reluctant to even bring his hand near them.

The dog's cries eventually snapped him out of his fear. He grabbed a handful of leeches, trying to fight the growing disgust as they wriggled in his hand. He threw them to the floor and grabbed another handful. Still afraid and realizing that something else was touching it, the dog whipped around and snapped at James' hand. He pulled back as the dog resumed struggling. There seemed no end to the leeches that covered its body.

The dog gave a loud scream, as if it had been struck by something. It wobbled and fell motionless to the ground. The leeches James had torn off immediately flocked to it. He cautiously moved closer.

__

What the hell? It died just like that?

He couldn't see its face, but the dog wasn't moving anymore. The leeches probably drained it of every last drop of strength it had.

The dog suddenly convulsed, and he fell backwards. It struggled to get onto its feet. He thought at first that it was still alive, but it wasn't making any sound-

A snarl.

It was snarling.

Something dripped onto the floor from where he thought its mouth was. It wobbled towards him, as if it was barely able to control its body. It collapsed onto the ground again, and struggled to get up.

With each step it took, the dog seemed to regain its lost strength. It was coming closer to him, opening its jaws and exposing its yellow fangs.

__

Oh…shit!

James shot the dog, but it didn't faze it. The leeches acted as a shield. He shot again in an attempt to hit its legs, but the dog jumped and knocked him over. Before it could get its jaws around his neck, he grabbed its throat and held it back. He felt leeches crawl over his hand, the dog's hot breath on his face, the large paws that pressed into his chest.

He pressed the gun into its knee and fired. Blood spewed onto James' shirt as he shoved the creature off him. He quickly brushed himself off, trying to get rid of any leeches that might have fallen on him. His hands were shaking.

The leech dog staggered back onto its feet, seemingly not bothered by its injury. He swiped the chair leg and backed up. He turned and started running for the stairs, with the dog following after. Being faster than James, it didn't take long for it to catch up with him.

__

Just let me make it to the stairs! Please, just let me make it!

The dog leaped forward. He turned and watched as it quickly descended upon him. With the chair leg in his hand, he swung it as hard as he could.

It smashed into the dog's head, sending it flying. He didn't wait around to see if he had killed it. Instead, he swung open the door leading to the stairs and quickly closed it behind him.

"Elizabeth?"

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…help me…

"Come on, Elizabeth. What's wrong?"

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I'm so scared…

"It's okay. Don't be afraid. They'll be back soon."

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I hate the dark…

There was a hand going through her hair. She didn't realize she had curled herself into a ball. She felt the warmth of her breath on her arm and noticed she was hiding her face, like a frightened puppy.

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How embarrassing.

She eased her aching muscles, but didn't move from her position. Being confined in the small elevator still made her uneasy, stirring up memories she had almost forgotten. The floor was cold, just like her room had been. It was always cold. Why was that?

"I had no idea you were so claustrophobic," a voice spoke.

_YOU STAY IN THERE UNTIL I TELL YOU TO COME OUT YOU LITTLE-_

"Bethany?"

Bethany rose from her sitting position and moved over to front of the elevator.

"James?" she peered through the open space between the doors. Sure enough, his soft blue eyes were staring right back at her.

"It's me. I think I can get the doors open now," he said.

"Thank god! Hurry up, then!" she ordered, unable to hide her anxiety. He put the leg of the chair between the doors. She gave him an incredulous look as he tightened his grip on it.

"You're going to open the doors with just _that_?" she asked.

"Look, I couldn't find a spare jack lying around, okay?" he snapped, "but I think it'll work. Just trust me on this."

She shuddered at those words. She remembered the last time she heard them.

He grunted, pushing on the chair leg with all of his weight. The doors groaned as they slowly opened, inch by inch. Bethany placed both hands on one side of the door and helped him push. She pressed her foot against the opposite door to add more pressure.

Soon enough, they slid open and James caught Bethany before she fell out. He caught a glimpse of the girl lying on the hard floor. She was staring right at him, unmoving. Her eyes never left his.

"That's Elizabeth," Bethany said. He walked over to her and bent next to her.

"Hey there," he said, trying to sound as friendly as he could. "I'm James."

He could detect a slight trace of fear in her eyes. He never figured himself for the intimidating type, so why did she look frightened?

"I hate to interrupt, but don't you think we should-" Bethany was cut off as the elevator rumbled under them. It creaked loudly, as if it was going to-

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Fall!

They all looked horrified at one another.

"Go! Get out!" he screamed. Bethany scrambled out of the elevator first and reached her hand out. James pulled Elizabeth roughly to her feet, ignoring her surprised gasp. He pushed her towards Bethany, she was inches from her grasp-

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SNAP!

Bethany yanked her out of the elevator, and he suddenly felt the elevator jerk violently. In slow motion he watched as Bethany and the girl disappeared from his sight. The last thing he heard was the scream of the elevator as it plunged below into the abyss, and Bethany screaming his name.


	13. Audio Room Conspiracy

Author's Note: I hate the hospital scenario now. It seems like I've run into nothing but writer's block and complications. Blah. It may be ending sooner then I expected, but that's not a bad thing. In fact, I have something planned I think you all might like. After reading a review of a PC game called, "Sanitarium" I got an idea. I'm going to do a separate scenario, showing what exactly happened to our little missing character. Be warned though, things will become a little more surreal and freakish if I do it. Which I may have to move this story to the "R" section (don't want my fanfic to be deleted), Anyway, to Lost Survivor, your Joshua character is very interesting. But I already have a set number of characters (because I lose track if I put in too many…eheh). However, I think I've got an idea involving your character. I'm not sure if it'll work, but I'll try. This Joshua…I'm assuming his last name is Ryman? Anyway, thanks for your suggestion! I greatly appreciate it! God, this author note is too long. Thanks to those who reviewed the last time (and thanks enRAGEd for the food! I'll take your advice and start adding page breaks). Hope you enjoy this chapter.

James and Daniel sat in front of the television watching a movie. It wasn't an uncommon thing for them to do on a Friday night. James called it bonding between a father and son, Debbie called it an excuse to be a coach potato.

James always rented movies on Friday nights, usually old western movies. He managed to get Daniel to take a liking to them. The boy would often go around pretending he was a cowboy, beating the "bad outlaws" and saving the day.

The only light in the room was from the television screen. Daniel watched intently as the hero walked up to the gang of outlaws, magnum revolver in hand.

"James, you really shouldn't be showing him that kind of thing," a voice called from the kitchen. He put his arm around Daniel, grinning.

"Oh come on, Debbie, it's a great movie. Teaches him good values," he said.

She sighed. "Like shooting someone," she responded sarcastically.

The outlaws taunted the hero, telling him he needed to get out of town. He didn't budge, staring defiantly at the three bad guys. Then they all reached for their guns, pointing them at one another with their fingers on the trigger and-

His head was throbbing.

He could hear a noise. Was it the sound of the television going? No, it was his own breathing. He wasn't laying on the soft carpet of his living room, instead he was laying on something cold and hard-steel.

The world slowly returned in a blurry mess of colors and shapes. _What happened?_

Then he remembered, the elevator snapped. He tried moving his sore body. Nothing seemed to be broken. And he was hurting too much to be dead.

He groaned as he pushed himself up into a sitting position. He rubbed the back of his head, feeling something wet sticking to his hand. He pulled his hand away and saw it was blood. He cursed, knowing that he must have smacked his head pretty hard against the floor.

Light slipped into the stuffy, dark elevator. A small opened space was located between the floor he was laying on and the top of the shaft. It was just wide enough for him to get through.

The elevator creaked again, like it had done before when it fell.

Better get out of here fast. I don't think I could survive another fall.

He slid his legs through first. Then he leaned back and pushed himself all the way out. He hit the floor clumsily as he landed, grunting as he got onto his feet. Rubbing his back, he saw in big bold lettering "B2" written on the wall across from him.

So I didn't fall to the first-floor basement. That's good…

He needed to get back to Bethany and Elizabeth.

The hallway was large, lined with several metal doors. It was going to be hard to tell where the stairs were without exploring first.

'Better get started then,' he thought miserably, not looking forward to whatever surprises were down here. He walked further down the hall, glancing at each door. None of them particularly caught his interest, except for one. The door labeled "Audio Room."

He stopped. Would the audio room have any information on what was happening right now?

No James, that's not the way to the stairs.

He pressed his hand against the door

James, you have to leave. You don't know what's in that room, you don't-

It creaked open.

FOR GOD'S SAKE JAMES YOU COULD BE KILLED JUST GO BACK-

He peered inside. From what he could see, it was well-lit. There were no monsters lurking in the room. In fact, it was very clean and well-organized, a sign it hadn't been used for a while.

As he stepped inside, he felt warm air against his skin. There were filing cabinets lined against the wall. In the back of the room was a desk, with a box and tape recording sitting on top of it.

The floorboards creaked under him as he walked towards the desk. He pulled the oak chair out and sat down. It was slightly uncomfortable, but he was too busy looking into the box to care. Several tapes filled the box, each labeled with what it was about. So far, he couldn't find anything that would be useful to him.

He glanced at the tape recorder on the desk. There was a tape lying right next to it, unlabeled. He put on the headphones that were next to him, adjusting them so that they fit comfortably over his ears. He slipped the tape into the record player and hit play. A few seconds passed as he listened closely the soft static of the tape.

Then a voice spoke.

"Dr. Hamilton, I'm glad you could take a few seconds out of your busy schedule to see me," a calm male voice said. James could sense a trace of sarcasm in the man's voice.

"You know I'm taking care of a lot of patients. Why did you need to see me so badly?"

"Well, I received a phone call."

"Yes?"

A sigh.

"George," the doctor's professional title had been dropped, "you know we can't save those patients who have that new virus."

There was a pause.

"What was the phone call?"

"The virus is spending too quickly, and we can't seem to find a cure fast enough. We've already lost more than I can count…"

"What was the phone call, Richard?"

"I mean, even you must've realized that there's no hope for them-"

"But I'm still trying to save them. Now what was the damn _phone call_?"

"It was from someone in Umbrella. They want us to contain the virus."

"…How?"

"They," the man paused, "they want us to separate the infected from the normal patients. Find some spare rooms to put them in-"

"And do what with them? You know that the patients that are close to dying are dangerous, they'll tear each other apart. Especially the newly infected ones that were brought in. And we don't have that many spare rooms to put them in."

"They're all going to die anyway, George."

"You…you can't be serious."

"But let me continue. They gave us a suggestion on how to do it. We could even take in a group one at a time and-"

"And _what?_"

"Euthanize them."

There was silence for a brief moment.

"Oh my god."

"We could probably start with the adults first, then move onto the children. They said they didn't care how we did it, just as long as it was done."

"Oh…oh god," the doctor's voice cracked. The man hesitated before speaking again.

"George, I thought I could tell you this because you're my friend."

"But we couldn't possibly contain it that way! It spreads too quickly and…and…"

"Then we'll have to try disposing as many as we can. It's for the greater good, George. You'll be doing everyone a favor. You know they're impossible to save."

"I…I just c-can't…"

"You know, you look pretty tired. Perhaps you should head on home, give yourself time to think about it. Hell, you look like you could use a strong drink right about now."

"We can't do this…we can't…"

"I'm sorry, but it's not really your place to decide."

They were going to kill all the virus carriers? _And what exactly did Umbrella have to do with this?_

He didn't want to hear anymore. He reached to turn off the tape, but through the hiss of the static he could hear a voice.

"…Yo…craz…"

It was Hursh's voice. James slowly pulled his finger away from the stop button.

"But…it………necessary proce…" He couldn't identify the other voice speaking. It sounded like the man who had spoken to Dr. Hamilton before.

"It's wrong!" Hursh's voice blurted out. The static began to die down, enough for him to hear more clearly. The loudness of those two words nearly made him jump out of his seat.

"But it's the only possible way to contain the virus," the man spoke. Ah, so it _was_ the same man from the previous recording. Had he talked to all of the doctors about this?

He felt the air grow colder, just a little. He thought nothing of it.

"Then hell! We might as well nuke the whole city!" came the strained response.

"If we don't figure out a way to contain the virus now, they probably will," the man said coldly. For a moment, neither voice spoke. He could only hear the crackle of the tape recorder.

"I'm your friend, Hursh. I'm doing this for your own good. For everyone's good," the man said softly. Wait, didn't this man also say he was a friend of the other doctor? It could have been just a coincidence, but something just didn't feel right.

"Besides, you don't want your little secret to get out. Am I right, _doctor_?" the very last word was spoken with a tint of venom to it. There was a choked cry from Hursh.

"No…" he whimpered.

"Good. You're doing the right thing. I promise."

He shut off the tape, still feeling confused. Who was that man talking? What secret was Hursh hiding?

What's with all those leeches?

He pulled the headphones off and sat them down. He was feeling very exhausted. He wasn't sure what time it was, but he knew that his body would be going to sleep without him if he didn't get out of the hospital soon. Maybe the other survivors and him could find somewhere to rest for the night-

Oh no!

He needed to get back upstairs. For all he knew, they might have already left without him. Or something worse could have happened. They might have all been killed.

Stupid, stupid James!

"Urragh…" he turned around, noticing the door was wide open, and a zombie was standing in the middle of the doorway. She had long, wavy brown hair that touched her shoulders, which were covered by the thin patient gown she was wearing. Her skin was deathly pale, but none of it had rotted off. Did she die recently?

Surprisingly, her appearance didn't frighten him as much as it had the first time he saw a zombie. He thought maybe he was becoming desensitized to them, as sickening as the thought was.

She wasn't moving. Almost like she was waiting for him.

Fine by me.

He raised the gun.

Click.

He looked down at his gun in panic. He had forgotten to reload it after his encounter with the dog. He forgot to _reload_ it.

He reached down in his pocket for the box of handgun bullets. The zombie girl lifted her head and stared through him with her ghoulishly white eyes. He felt her silent laughter as she stumbled toward him while he struggled to open the box without dropping all the bullets. He frantically began shoving them into the barrel of the gun. He couldn't reload fast enough-

Blam!

Handgun bullets clattered to the ground, spilling everywhere. The girl collapsed, a small hole through her skull. Her body convulsed as blood leaked onto the floor. Eyeing her corpse carefully, he began to scoop up as many bullets as he could and finished reloading his gun. He put whatever was left back into the box.

She still didn't move.

He moved past her, expecting her at any moment to rise up and attack.

Nothing.

He quickly exited, knowing that he had to stop getting sidetracked. As he lectured himself for being irresponsible and foolish, there was a deafening sound that seemed to be not far from where he was standing. He heard a loud rattling, and something that also sounded like-

Screams?

But they weren't human screams. He didn't know of any man, women, or child that could screech like that. He wasn't sure, but could it be-

No, they couldn't be the screams of those they were going to kill…could it?

The loud banging of metal made him jump. He took off in the opposite direction, praying that the stairs wouldn't be located from where those screams were coming.


	14. Searching For the Missing

Author's Note: Ah, yes. This chapter came out rather smoothly. I'm trying to wrap up the hospital scenario in the next couple of chapters. How am I going to do that? I have no idea (eheh…). Anyway, I'm surprised to see people are still wondering about dear old Joseph. Well, I'm not going to keep you in the dark forever. You might see him sooner than you think (wink).

What the HELL was that thing?

That was the thought that went through William's mind. It was probably the strangest and ugliest monster he had encountered so far, even worse than that creature who had been turned inside-out in the police station.

__

It was covered in leeches! Ugh!

He never thought himself the squeamish type, until now. He knew the monster was attracted to blood, as it lost all interest in him when it saw the blood on the locker.

__

Which means I got to watch myself. If I bleed that thing will probably come after me. Maybe that's why the doctor had that blood pack on his desk.

Speaking of the doctor, William still hadn't seen a trace of him. The only human he had come across was that subway employee and he hadn't seen him around either. It worried him that all these people were disappearing so quickly. He had an idea why.

__

And why didn't Dr. Hursh tell us about the other survivors? Why was he keeping it a secret?

Maybe the doctor was trying to keep them from putting themselves in danger to see the survivors.

__

But then again, he sent one of us to get that girl. So it couldn't be for that reason.

Something wasn't making sense. It reminded him of the incident where the chief of police locked away the weapons and ammunition during the riots. He hated to call it a conspiracy, but that's what it was beginning to sound like.

There were two rooms he hadn't checked yet. One was right next to him, on the door was simply written, "office". He went inside.

The room was messier than Hursh's office, much to William's surprise. The first thing he noticed was the awful smell of decaying meat. He looked down and saw a dead nurse lying at his feet. He took a step back. To his relief, she didn't move.

There was a barricade of medical equipment, boxes, tables, and a variety of other things. They were stacked high enough that even a zombie couldn't get through.

"Doc?" William asked aloud, hoping for a response. It was completely silent.

"Doctor Hursh?" he looked over the side of the barricade. A cooling machine sat near the back of the room. Next to it was a human leg, soaked in blood. The leeches wasted no time in lapping up whatever bodily fluids were left. He shuddered involuntarily.

__

That couldn't be the doctor…could it?

He couldn't tell, and he didn't feel like going to investigate. He glanced out the large window to his left. Below was the burning wreckage that used to be Raccoon City.

__

Good god! It looks like someone set the whole town on fire!

It wasn't unusual to see awful pictures like this in the news, but it had always been other cities. Not his hometown. Never in Raccoon City. His family, his friends, they were all probably dead by now.

For once that night, he wished more than anything to be able to see his family again. It was painful to think that they all died.

__

No, don't lose hope. Maybe they already escaped. Maybe they've left town.

On the sink, under the window was a first aid spray. The same kind James used on his arm. Supposedly, it was a painkiller and disinfectant used on serious injuries. There were rumors that it also included some kind of illegal chemical, which gave the person it was being used on a big adrenaline rush. It was never proven though.

__

I certainly didn't feel any rush when it was used on me.

Disappointment sunk in as he picked up the first aid spray. They had come for medical supplies, and so far this was the only reward for their efforts to stay alive in the hospital. It felt like they had done more harm to their cause than good.

__

How many more mistakes are we going to make before the night is through?

They had been lucky so far, with all of them being alive. But it was only a matter of time before their luck would run out, and a small mistake would lead to a terrible tragedy.

__

Like it did for you, William?

'No, no…don't think about it,' but he couldn't help it. He could still smell the gun powder mixed in with the scent of rotting meat. The screaming, his tense muscles, the dryness in his throat, his partner's terrified eyes-

__

Stop it!

'All…my…'

__

Thumpthumpthumpthump.

It was coming from the ceiling. Something was moving around up there. Maybe it was the leech monster again, coming back to finish William off. He stumbled back, hearing something fragile crack under his boots. He looked down and saw it was the dead nurse's hand he was stepping on. She still gave no sign of getting up. He sighed in relief, maybe she wasn't going to turn into a zombie after all.

Something glimmered out of the corner of his eye. On the sink, where he had grabbed the first aid spray was a key. The moonlight from the window was reflecting off of it. Attached to the key was a small piece of paper. He walked over and picked it up.

__

"Please give this key to Dr. Hamilton. He'll know what to do with it. Please keep this out of sight from the other doctors. Thank you."

He looked at the key. Engraved on it was "B2".

__

This was under the first aid spray? Not exactly a good hiding spot for a key…

He tried to exit the room, but something grabbed a hold of his leg before he could. The sound from the ceiling grew louder as he saw the nurse dragging herself closer to him with her free hand. Before she could sink her teeth into his leg, he whipped out his gun and shot her through the skull. She collapsed, her face just inches away from his ankle.

He jerked his leg free, looked up and saw the leech man on the other side of the barricade.

How long had it been there?! He hadn't even heard it enter the room. It struggled to get over the barricade, and William felt some relief that the barricade was slowing it down. He yelped as the leech man's arm stretched forward to attack him. He fell to the floor as the arm crashed into the cabinet, tiny glass shards falling on him like rain. As the monster withdrew its hand, he quickly stood and dashed out the door. Before he could go anywhere, his feet slid out from under him. He fought to regain balance, and somehow managed to keep himself upright. He looked down to see what caused him to slip and saw himself standing in leeches.

__

So, Leechy here brought more friends, huh? They were slowly moving toward the room that the leech monster was in. Some of them were beginning to gather around his boots. Disgusted, he wasted no time in disposing of them. He continued running down the hallway.

Bodies that were lying out in the hallway were beginning to rise at the sound of his footsteps. The leech man threw open the door behind him. He stopped under the shutter, glancing at a metal box with a round, red light in the center. The light was off.

He felt around the box and found the switch. He flicked it on, and the shutter quivered as it slowly came down. William stepped out of the way, and watched as the leech man and the zombies came toward him. The shudder was descending too slowly and the monsters were moving too quickly-

BAM!

He jumped back in surprise as the leech man smashed into the shutter. It stumbled away, as if confused, then tried ramming it again. The zombies extended their arms through the shutter, furiously trying to claw at him.

BAM!

The shutters shook violently, but didn't budge. The monsters couldn't get out. He was safe for now.

'For now, but it probably won't be long before they break free,' he thought. He ran back down the stairs.

--

"James?! JAMES!" Bethany screamed. As loud as she shrieked, she knew he couldn't hear her. She was crouched near the shaft. Her fingers dangled over the edge, dipping themselves into the blackness that covered the shaft like a thick fog.

__

Oh god…what if he's dead?

Could the elevator have stopped before it hit the ground? She couldn't tell, it was too dark.

What if he wasn't dead? What if he was badly injured and needed help? She needed to get down there to him, but she didn't even know where he ended up.

Elizabeth didn't speak a word. She watched as a shaken Bethany paced back and forth, calling out the man's name who had saved them.

__

Did he really die?

She didn't know why, but the thought of his death didn't bother her as much as it should have. It might have been because she barely knew him, but she felt like she was supposed to feel at least _something_.

"Bethany!" a voice cried out. Elizabeth turned around and saw a policeman coming towards them. His arm was hurt, and his uniform was stained in blood. Bethany glanced up from the elevator.

"William!" she cried, relieved to see a familiar face. She got up and ran to him.

"Are you two alright? Where's Jame-"

"The elevator fell! He was inside it when it fell! William, I can't see him anywhere! You have to help me find him he could be dead-"

"Hey! Calm down! We-"

"Calm down?! Don't tell me to calm down! James could be dying down there! You have to help me find him!" she made no attempt to hide the fear and panic in her voice.

"You know, we still haven't found Joseph. Are you sure about this? I think we should go back and check…"

He hesitated to speak. He failed to help Joseph. He wasn't going to fail to help James. If he really did need his help, then it was his job to help him.

__

Besides, I'd be dead if it wasn't for him.

"Right. We'll go down and look for him. We have to work quickly though. There's more to worry about here than just the zombies," finally he was starting to feel like an actual police officer. He glanced down at the girl standing next to him.

"That's Elizabeth. The girl that was in the elevator with me," Bethany said, "now come on, we have to find James!" He nodded.

"Alright then. Let's move."


	15. March of the Dead

Author's Note: Ah, yes. I think the hospital scenario is ending. I'm going to try to end it in the next chapter, if I can. Then I can move on with the one scenario I've been talking about. I can't wait! So, enRAGed, you've noticed my pattern, eh? There's still one more person to introduce (though it's getting so late in the story, I don't know if I should bother…bleh). Thanks for reviewing the last chapter, AnimaSola and Himeko! LadyFrost1, I'm glad you liked the last chapter. I'm still looking forward to your stories. Lost Survivor, I can't say when you're character will pop up. I'm still deciding over that. He'll definitely be mentioned along with Demon Heart's final character (if I ever get around to introducing him. Rar). And thanks for your input BenJammin', I'll work on that. So enjoy, everyone!

I can't stand that sound!

James was beginning to lose his mind. He couldn't take the screaming and pounding that seemed to come from all around him.

Where is it coming from?! Who's doing the screaming?!

He felt like the elevator had dropped him into hell itself. He feared that he was going to go crazy if he didn't escape soon, but he still couldn't find the stairs. There were a lot of hallways that split and led in different directions. Often times he would find the places he wanted to go in blocked off with signs prohibiting anyone to enter.

He felt like a rat in a maze, with the maze guiding him in all the wrong directions. His frustration dissolved when he stumbled across the corpse of a doctor. At first he thought it was a zombie, waiting for James to get close enough to attack him. A lot of blood formed around the doctor's head, smearing all over the steel flooring. That was because of the bullet hole through his forehead.

What the…who did this to him…

Then he noticed the gun in the doctor's hand. It dawned on him that he probably committed suicide.

For what reason? Was he afraid he'd turn into a zombie too?

He saw a piece of folded paper in the man's pocket. He pulled it out and unfolded it. It was hard to read due to the blood splotches and the doctor's messy handwriting, but he could still make it out.

If you are reading this, then I'm probably already dead.

James glanced at the body, muttering a calm, "no shit."

I've been trapped down here for a few days now. No food or water other than what I've been able to scavenge. It's sealed off down here, none of the hospital staff would dare come down here. Not even to save me. They're all too afraid.

They wanted me to fetch something down here. A tape, I think. I was supposed to dispose of it and come back up, but when I tried to leave it was locked. It was very risky to come down here in the first place, as this is where they began storing the dangerous patients. Some of the doctors have kept weapons around to protect themselves, myself included. It's against hospital policy, but what are we supposed to do?

I can't take it anymore. The screaming. It's all I can hear now. I'm so hungry, tired, and afraid. I can't sleep, the pounding keeps jarring me awake. No one will come to rescue me, so I've been given two choices: kill myself or starve.

Well, you can guess which one I chose. Starvation is just too painful, I can't-

The rest was illegible, the stains made it impossible to read. James couldn't believe they left one of the staff down here to die.

So, this has to be the place where they were going to kill the diseased patients.

He remembered something and looked over the note again. _"It's sealed off down here…."_

He tried to stay calm, but he couldn't keep down the rising panic. Now being lost was the least of his worries, because he might not be getting out at all. The pounding became louder than ever. He had to cover his ears to block out the noise.

It sounds like it's coming from around the corner!

He started walking towards the noise, anxious to see what was causing the ruckus. He turned the corner and reached an iron door. There was a small, thick window in the center of it. He leaned closer and peered inside.

"Oh…my…god…"

They were all zombies. Men, women, even small children were inside that room trying to get out. They looked like they had all been crammed in there, as there was no room for them to lay down or even sit.

Those sick bastards! How could they do this to innocent people?!

The monsters inside looked far worse than any zombie he'd seen so far. Some of them had missing limbs or were completely soaked in blood. James wondered if these were the same living conditions that the patients had to suffer in before they turned into zombies.

Screaming came from further down the hall.

'How many more rooms did they use to keep in sick patients?' he thought. For all he knew, there could be thousands of zombies down here.

The screams caused a reaction for the zombies in the room. They all lunged at the door, causing him to fall back. The door shook so violently that he was sure it was going to break open.

Thumpthumpthumpthump.

Through the loud commotion, he could hear something in the ceiling. It sounded a lot like someone was walking across it. His mind urged him to get going before whatever was up there decided to come down and greet him. He tried to avoid looking over his shoulder at the people-

No, monsters.

-that were still in that room. He hurried down the hall, which started to feel less like a maze with its confusing twists and turns. He ran under a vent and heard the lid clatter to the ground. Then came a squirming noise, just like in the first-floor basement. He stopped and nearly turned around-

No! No, you idiot! Run!

For once, he listened and took off again. His legs felt like they were going to come off at how fast he was going. He focused only on what was in front of him, not daring to turn his head. Behind him he could hear faint footsteps.

At the end of the long stretch of hallway was a door. Above it, a green exit sign flickered.

Finally!

He tried to push it open, only to find it wouldn't budge. He looked through the small window into the passage on the other side. On one side of the wall was the word "stairs" with an arrow underneath it. He smashed his fist against the window out of aggravation.

He jogged a few feet away from the door, and when he had enough distance between him and it, he ran full speed towards it.

BAM!

"Argh!" he fell backwards clutching his arm in pain. He shot an angry look at the door, which hadn't moved at all. He got back up and pressed his whole body against it. He struggled for several seconds trying to open the door. It still remained fixed in place.

Am I really stuck down here?

He slumped to the ground. Out of frustration, he hit the back of his head against the door. The noises started up again and he wondered if he was going to end up like the doctor. A bullet through his head.

William, Bethany, and that girl Elizabeth…what'll happen to them? What'll happen to me? Maybe they think I'm dead and left. Or what if they don't think I'm dead? What if they come looking for me and get themselves killed?

"Dammit!" he said loudly. He buried his head in his hands. They were soaked from all the sweat.

I sure could use a hot shower right now. And a comfortable, clean bed…

Those footsteps were getting closer. He rose from his spot, trying to make as little noise as possible. He was tempted to try banging on the door. If one of the survivors were nearby, then maybe he could get their attention.

But I'd also attract the attention of whatever's walking around.

He pressed his back against the door as the footsteps got louder. It was worth a try, after all, that thing was going to find him no matter what.

He turned and started pounding wildly on the door.

--

"Elizabeth, you stay here and wait for us," said William.

She nodded, her fear apparent. He smiled gently at her and reached to pat her comfortingly on the shoulder, but she flinched under his touch.

"I-I'm fine," she stuttered. He frowned and looked at Bethany, who gave him a shrug.

"Okay, we'll be back soon," he said. Then he turned and followed Bethany downstairs.

The darkness swallowed them the further down they went. Neither of them spoke. Bethany was more focused on getting downstairs, but his mind was elsewhere. He was busy thinking about Elizabeth. There was something odd about that girl. He had seen children like her before, and most of them were abus-

"Hey, watch it. You're bumping into me," Bethany said irritably. "I'm starting to think you have a crush on me."

"Oh, uh, sorry," he apologized, his face a little red. He was glad she couldn't see him.

It took a while for the two survivors' eyes to adjust to the dark. They had to be very careful of the steps they took. One misstep could send them tumbling down the stairs.

"I think we're reaching the first-floor basement. Should we check that out first?" Bethany asked.

"Is that where the elevator went?" he asked.

"I don't know. Damn! Maybe we should start from the lowest level-" she was cut off as her foot missed the next step. Before she could fall, William grabbed her arm. He gripped the railing next to them for balance, and let go of her when she finally steadied herself.

"Whew! That would've been a nasty fall. You've got pretty good reflexes there. I guess most cops need them, huh?," she said.

"Most of them," he hesitated before speaking again, "are we going to first-floor basement or are we going further on down?"

She sighed, "I guess we should try the lowest level first. I think the elevator dropped quite a ways. How many levels do you suppose this hospital has?"

"I doubt it'd have too many. This isn't a very big hospital," he answered. They continued walking in silence. It only took them a few minutes to reach the second-floor basement, but to them it felt like hours. A door sealed off the passageway to the basement. He tried tugging at the door, but it wouldn't come open.

"It's locked? Where are we going to find a key?!" she cried. Remembering the key he found on the third floor, he dug into his pocket and pulled it out. He felt her shocked expression on him as he groped around in the dark to find the keyhole. She wrapped her hand around his and moved it to where the keyhole was. The locked clicked open as he turned the key.

"You're full of surprises. Where'd you find that?" she asked.

"Upstairs, while I was looking for the doctor," he responded as the door swung open.

"Oh? Did you ever find-"

BAM! BAM! BAM!

Bethany and William jerked their heads toward the sound. It was coming from the other side of the door at the end of the hallway. Their first instinct was to run, fearing that it was a monster trying to break loose.

"Hey! I think that's James!" Bethany said. She ran towards the door and looked into the small window. Sure enough, she saw James on the other side. He stopped beating on the door when he saw her. He looked behind him and then looked back to her. He started to say something, but she couldn't hear.

William walked towards them, but stopped at the corpse of a man wearing a green patient's outfit. He was young-looking and had messy, blonde hair. He looked like he had been shot through the abdomen, though he couldn't be sure. The patient's hand was stained red. When he got a closer look, he saw that he had written out a message in his own blood.

FREE THE DAMNED.

'What on earth?' he thought. Then he saw something in the man's other hand.

Bethany looked down at the door. It was electronically locked through a card reader.

"William, what are you doing over there?! Help me out!" she snapped. He pulled his attention away from the corpse to look at her and the door. Then he looked back to what the man was holding.

It's…a card. But why would a patient have it? Unless, they stole it.

"Stop messing with that corpse and get over here!" he tugged the card out of the patient's hand. He wasn't sure if that'd be the right cardkey to open the door, but he had to try. He walked over to where Bethany was and slid the card through.

Please…

The card reader gave a cheerful 'ding' and the door slid open. James quickly ran out to rejoin the others.

"You alright there?" Bethany asked him.

"Yeah, I'm fine. I thought I'd never get out of there," he then gave William an odd look, "where's Dr. Hursh?"

"I couldn't find him-" he was cut off by the sound of loud footsteps. None of them spoke, just listened. It was coming towards them.

"We need to get out of here," James whispered in a low voice.

"But where are we going to go?" Bethany asked, "we need a way out of this hospital."

Before anyone could answer her, a figure appeared from around the corner. William recognized it as the leech man from the third floor.

"Oh no…no…it's back…" he said quietly, fearfully. James and Bethany were still in shock, and James' phobia was quick to resurface. It was quickly moving towards them with its arms outstretched, walking in a clumsy manner. It was hard to tell who it was coming after first. The three survivors spread out.

"What the _hell_ is that thing?!" Bethany shrieked. Her voice caught the attention of the leech man and it started going after her. She backed up against the wall as William opened fire on it. The gunshots didn't seem to slow it down. James managed to shake off his fear and he threw himself against the leech man. It was just enough to knock it off-balance, giving her a chance to escape. She crawled away from it and ran back to William.

"Go! Everyone go!" William screamed, still firing.

The leech man swung around, knocking James to the floor. He heard two loud blasts and saw leeches flying off of it. He scrambled away while Bethany fired her shotgun again.

"Run for the stairs!" he yelled at them. William's handgun ran empty, much to his disappointment. He felt Bethany tug on his sleeve, urging him to follow her. The leech man ran after them, unwilling to give up on potential prey.

Then there were several loud crashes that came from behind them. Right before William slammed the door shut, there was the unmistakable sound of marching. Hundreds of people marching. Only James knew what it truly meant.

The hospital had just became a war zone, and they were right in the middle of it.

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	16. The Fire Escape

Author's Note: I am much disappointed with this chapter. I think James' final line sums up my feelings for the hospital scenario. It was way too long, waaaay too long. But I think the reason for that was because the hospital is probably the most important scenario of the story. But it was so hard to write! Oh well, at least now we're moving into the Joseph scenario! Hooray! So, enRAGed, you think James and Bethany would be parents, eh? I don't know how well that'd go with James' wife (heheh), but that does give me an idea! And I don't think I'll be adding another character, I just don't know how I could pull it off the way I want too. But thanks to you, Himeko, ozmcman, E-Z B (I'm gonna try to have some more Outbreak character interaction!), and Dynamis for reviewing! Oh, and since Joseph's scenario is next, this will be moved to "R" section when the next chapter is posted. Just so ya know! Now enjoy!

--

Elizabeth was sitting with her back against the wall, arms wrapped around her knees. She watched the staircase while waiting for William and Bethany to return. Ever so often, she thought she would hear a noise. Sometimes it was a footstep, a tap on the door, or a groan.

It was quite possible that William and Bethany weren't coming back. Most of survival relied on luck, or so that's what it felt like. It only took one gamble, one mistake to end everything.

The lights hummed above her. It was as if they were watching her. She closed her eyes and tried to imagine there being people here. Busy doctors and nurses rushing about trying to take care of sick patients, crying children, adults talking in the waiting room. With all the chattering going on in the hospital, she didn't feel so alone.

She was good at playing pretend.

Someone was shouting from the staircase. It was followed by thunder-wait, it wasn't quite thunder. It sounded more like marching. Lots and lots of people marching. She rose to her feet.

"Quick! Don't look back, just run!" someone screamed. It wasn't Bethany, she didn't think it was the cop. Three people emerged from the staircase, panic written on their faces. Before she could react, the red-haired man tightly gripped her hand and jerked her forward. She twisted her head around to see what had caused them such alarm, but all she could see was the dark staircase.

She nearly lost her balance trying to look, but he held her upright. She was having difficulty matching his pace. He was much faster than she was.

William was running besides Bethany, who was exhausted and lagging behind. She was an actress, not an athlete.

'If I live through this, I'm going straight to the gym,' she thought bitterly.

They ran around the corner and towards the front entrance. James was the first one to suddenly stop at the entrance, while the others nearly crashed into him.

"Oh no…" he whispered, focused on the glass doors in front of him. Everyone else turned their attention to where he was looking. A crowd of zombies had gathered outside the hospital. They stood there motionless, with their heads hanging down. Upon seeing the survivors, some of the monsters began attacking the doors.

"We can't go out there! We'll be torn apart!" Bethany cried. He tried to think of what to do next. Elizabeth was breathing heavily beside him.

"We'll have to find another way out," he said simply.

"Another way out? There is none! We're stuck here!" Bethany said.

"Don't be ridiculous. There has to be more than one exit."

"But we would have run into it by now!"

"We just need to-"

"We could use the fire escape," Elizabeth said softly. The others stopped their bickering and looked at the young girl.

"Fire escape?" James asked.

"It's on the rooftop," she said.

"How would you know about it?" Bethany asked. Elizabeth remembered seeing a notice pinned up on a board in the hallway. It had a list of rules regarding what to do in case of a fire.

"I saw a paper mentioning it," she said.

"Do you think it's safe?" William asked.

"Of course it's not safe!" Bethany replied, "but what other choice do we have? Except stand here and wait to be eaten."

"Okay, let's hurry before those things catch up with us," said James. He went to take Elizabeth's hand again, but she quickly pulled away from him.

"I-I can make it on my own," she said. He looked at her oddly, then nodded his head.

__

Snarl.

Everyone turned to see a dog covered in leeches standing in the middle of the hallway. Its back was arched and its head was lowered, through its leech-covered face it flashed yellowish fangs.

"Dammit! Not this thing again!" James cried. William stepped back, shooting a glance at the other man.

"A friend of yours?" he grumbled.

The dog walked forward clumsily, as it had done before. The leeches still hadn't gotten complete control over the animal's body.

James searched around for something they could use. Bullets were ineffective against it, due to the shield of leeches around its body. They could try to run, seeing how the animal couldn't function as well as it did alive. But he didn't want to take that chance.

His eyes fell on a fire extinguisher that was to the right of the entrance. It was in a glass case with the word "emergency" written on it. Without hesitation, he ran towards it. The leech dog gave chase, its clumsy legs were slowing picking up speed.

He smashed the butt of his gun into the case. Glass shards fell around his feet as he reached in and took the extinguisher.

"James! Behind you!" Bethany dove in front of him just as the dog leapt at him. She raised her shotgun up as if it were a shield, and it connected with the dog's belly. She jerked the gun over her head with such force that she sent the dog flying over. It yipped loudly as its body cracked against the ground. She held it down with her foot, breathing heavily. The other survivors looked astonished at what she had done.

"Kill this damn freak!" she screeched. It jerked under her foot, struggling and snapping at her ankle. James aimed the fire extinguisher down and blasted it. The dog yelped as he sprayed it, leeches rapidly falling off its body. He didn't stop until it quit moving.

The smoke from the fire extinguisher slowly cleared, and the four survivors looked down at what remained. The dog lay dead, with puncture marks all over its body. The leeches were shriveled up in a pile near the dog.

"Ugh. That's disgusting," Bethany commented. William looked at her.

"Where did you learn a move like that?" he asked. She gave him a weak grin.

"I didn't. It was kind of reflexive," she laughed, "my first stunt move."

"Well, that stunt move saved my life. Thanks," he said with a smile. She turned to look at him, and for a brief moment he thought he saw interest cross those bright, green eyes.

__

Maybe I'm just imagining things.

"So, that's twice I've saved you from dogs, huh James?" she said playfully.

"Um, e-excuse me. Officer?" a quiet voice spoke. William looked down to see a frightened Elizabeth staring up at him.

"Just call me William. Hey, what's the matter?" he asked. Her eyes darted away from him.

"Are those monsters from downstairs going to come up here?" she asked. He paused before answering, hearing the same sound they heard in the basement. It was getting louder.

"Guys, we need to go. Now," he said. James and Bethany nodded in agreement.

"So, we're definitely going upstairs, right?" Bethany asked.

"Looks like it. Let's move," ordered James.

When they arrived, they were horrified. Zombies were crawling over each other. There must have been hundreds of them, all tightly packed together, trying to move up the stairs.

"Is…is this what was in the basement?" William asked nervously.

"Yeah," James replied grimly.

"Are you sure this is a good idea?" Bethany asked, "I mean, if we go, there's no coming back."

"There's no other way," James said firmly. William, Bethany, and James began heading up the stairs, but not Elizabeth. She remained frozen at the bottom, staring terrified at the monsters trying to get to them.

James, noticing the girl wasn't following them anymore, called to her.

"Elizabeth! Hurry up!"

She looked up at him, opening her mouth as if to say something, but she was instantly cut off by the large arm that extended towards her.

"Elizabeth!"

She shrieked as she was slammed up against the wall, pinned by the leech-covered hand that wrapped around her throat.

"Guh-!"

"ELIZABETH!"

Her eyes watered as she struggled to breathe in air. Through her blurry vision she saw a man covered in purple worms.

James hurried down the steps, spraying the leech man with the fire extinguisher. It released its grip on Elizabeth and she fell to the ground coughing and gasping. He reached down and pulled her away from the monster. He quickly ushered her up the stairs where William and Bethany waited.

When they made it to the top of the stairs, William was the first to try and open the door. The knob twisted in his hand, but the door itself didn't budge.

"Uh, I think we've got a problem," he said worriedly.

"It's locked?!" James tried the open the door himself, but he received the same results.

"We'll have to bust it open," William said, "and fast. Those things are getting closer."

The two men began ramming their shoulders into the door. The door shook violently with each blow.

Bethany looked behind her to see the leech man coming up the stairs after them. A few of the zombies had managed to untangle themselves from the rest of the group and was heading upstairs as well.

She turned back to see James and William still working on the door.

__

We'll never make it at this rate.

"Stand aside!" she growled. The two men stopped what they were doing, and saw Bethany holding her shotgun at the door. They moved out of her way as she aimed right below the doorknob. She blasted one shell into the door.

Wood splintered as it swung open. Right before they went in, James turned and hurled the fire extinguisher at the approaching leech man. He raised his handgun, only needing one bullet…

The extinguisher bounced against the wall, missing the leech man. James accidentally fired, knowing the moment the handgun bucked in his hand that he had shot too late.

An explosion rocked the staircase, nearly knocking the survivors off their feet. The few zombies that tried to follow them had been consumed in the flames. The stairs below were severely damaged.

The leech man was untouched.

"James, you idiot!" snarled Bethany. He had successfully cut off the path from the zombies to them, but he had also trapped them with the leech man.

__

Stupid, stupid James.

"Everyone out!" William shouted. They made their way out onto the rooftop and he slammed the door shut behind them. It was brightly lit, with a helicopter landing pad right in the middle. Much to their disappointment, there was no helicopter.

Elizabeth ran out to where the fire escape was.

"It's over here!" she cried. Bethany, James, and William ran over to join her. It was a long ladder, rusty and unsafe-looking. It led down to the park area of the hospital. From what they could see, it was safe. There were no zombies.

The door rattled.

"Start climbing!" James said. Bethany went first, followed by Elizabeth and William. William was having difficultly getting down, as he could only use his one arm to climb. He silently prayed that he wouldn't slip.

James grabbed the rungs of the ladder and began his climb down. Right before the rooftop vanished from his sight, he saw the door swing open and the leech man stumble out. It turned its head and he swore it was looking right at him.

Panic rushed through him. He couldn't tell them to hurry up, they were climbing down as fast as they could manage.

It was staggering towards them.

Bethany and Elizabeth were close to the ground now, with William struggling to catch up. He nearly lost his grip on the ladder and clung to it for support.

James kept his eyes glued to the top of the ladder, expecting to see the leech man show itself. He expected to see it climb down after them.

William finally made it to the ground, and Bethany and Elizabeth helped him down. James sped up his descent. He thought the ladder was shaking, that the leech man was trying to get to him.

"Come on James! You're almost there!" called Bethany. He felt his foot slip and he fell a couple of rungs. He hugged the ladder and found his footing again. He climbed the rest of the way down.

A wave of relief passed through each of the survivors. They had survived the nightmarish hospital. James looked up and saw the leech man looking over the side of the rooftop. He was afraid that it was going to come down, but instead it just kept watching.

After a few minutes, it lost interest in them and left.

"Where are we going next?" asked Bethany.

"Who knows, let's just get out of here. I'm sick of this hospital," James grumbled. The others couldn't help but agree. William looked at what they managed to salvage-a single first aid spray.

'What a joke,' he thought. He followed the rest of the group as they headed further into the desolate city. The last sound they heard was the moans echoing from inside the hospital building.


	17. Agateophobia

Author's Note: It's Demon Heart's first birthday, so here's an update as a present! I really hope you like this, I had to go through several re-writes.

Blam!

The zombie collapsed onto the rough pavement. A small, round bullet hole engraved in its forehead. Its jaws were opened in hunger and its eyes stared up at him blankly, as if him snuffing out its life didn't bother it the slightest bit.

Joseph wiped the sweat from his forehead as he lowered his gun. He was breathing hard and his head was pounding. Moans came from only a short distance away, along with the sound of faint shuffling.

__

How many more are there?!

Ever since he fled from the police station, things had gotten increasingly bad. He ran as far as the main downtown area in hopes of getting across town and out of the city, but it hadn't been easy. The closer he reached the heart of the city; the more monsters he encountered. It wasn't surprising. Most of the riots had taken place there.

He couldn't help but wonder what became of James, the either very brave or very idiotic man who volunteered to explore the police station by himself. Joseph had left before he came back, after witnessing that…that…

__

The door rattled as Joseph watched it intently. He backed against the marble statue that remained in the center of the police station, desperately hoping that the thing would give up and go away.

__

"James," his voice barely reached above a whisper, but there was no sign of him.

A chunk of door came flying off, startling Joseph nearly to death. Gleaming, sharp claws were slipping through the slit. Something was growling on the other side.

He felt a sudden pain in his arm. When he looked down, he saw that he had dug his fingernails into it. Blood seeped out from the tiny puncture marks he made. He glanced up at the monster attempting to get inside.

The claws were gone. In fact, upon closer inspection, the whole door remained perfectly intact.

Against his better judgment, he approached the large, oak double doors. He stood before them waiting for any kind of movement, but the only movement in the room was his swaying body.

'What the-? What just happened-'

The door jerked violently, causing him to jump back. He could hear soft mumbling from the other side. Was it trying to say his name?

A scream erupted, and he watched in horror as the door convulsed uncontrollably. The scream sounded like it was by a child, a young girl-

"Help me…! HELP ME!"

He opened his mouth, words frozen in his throat.

"It's going to get me!"

"I-I-I-don't-"

"JOSEPH! JOSEPH! HELP ME! IT'S GOING TO EAT ME UP!"

He turned and ran. He ran and he didn't look back.

He felt guilty for leaving James to fend for himself. Not as much as he probably should have, but the feeling was still there. James had probably left the police station by now, figuring him for dead.

__

Or maybe he wasn't going to come back for me at all. Yeah, that's right. Leave the crazy bastard behind to die. He would have killed you all anyway.

He supposed it was rash of him to think that way, but he couldn't dismiss that expression he saw on James' face. It was like he thought he was some kind of maniac, or madman. He had only seen that look on the face of one person before, though the man's name escaped him.

He didn't know whether James' motive for leaving him was to help him or ditch him, but he was sure he wouldn't be seeing him again.

He sneezed a couple of times and stopped to rub at his nose. It was probably his allergies acting up.

He was only allergic to dogs.

His ears picked up the sound of several, low growls. He turned slowly towards the source of the noise, his knuckles white from clenching the gun. A pack of dogs had followed him; five of them in total. Blood was caked around their muzzles.

__

I can't fight ALL of them!

He sneezed again, loudly. One of the bigger dogs lunged at him. He turned to run, but the beast knocked him over, pinning him on his back. The gun flew from his hands and landed a few feet away from a nearby trashcan. He struggled frantically, grasping the dog's wet throat with both hands. The animal snapped viciously at him, trying to free itself from his grip. The other dogs moved forward to help take down their newest kill.

Tears obscured his sight, and it became clear to him he was going to die. Even if he did manage to get the large dog off him, the rest would be on him in a heartbeat.

__

I…don't…want to…die…

He heard a gunshot, and the dog cried out as the bullet caught its side. He pushed it off of him, scrambling back as the remaining dogs began closing in on him. Another bullet slammed into the dog on the rear, and it fell too.

He looked behind him to see who was firing the gun. It wasn't James, like he previously thought, but a police officer. He was muscular, with the figure of a football player. Medium-length, reddish brown hair brushed against the back of his neck. He wore a dark blue uniform and a bullet-proof vest. "R.P.D." was written across it in white, bold lettering. In his hand, he held a .45 pistol.

He glanced at Joseph, who was cringing in fear.

"Get out of here! Let me handle this!" he said. Joseph nodded, eager to get away. He got to his feet and started running towards him. The police officer took aim and missed, swearing loudly as he did.

The three dogs gave chase as Joseph ran, but the other man remained still. He wiped his forehead and muttered something Joseph couldn't hear. He then took his gun in both hands.

"One," he said.

Joseph watched as the cop started to rear back the gun, in the same way one would pitch a baseball.

"Two."

Joseph ran past him and heard a barely audible "three". He spun around the corner of a building as several gunshots came from behind. It was soon followed by silence. He didn't bother to go check if the cop was still alive. More than likely, he wasn't.

The dogs weren't following him anymore. Either the cop had killed them or they were feasting on what was left of him.

'Where do I go now?' he wondered to himself. He slowed down his pace, growing tired of running. He heard moaning up ahead and stopped, examining his surroundings and trying to figure out what to do next.

He was at an intersection. Several stores lined up next to each other, many of which he had been in before. A lot of them had been boarded up, ruined. He thought he could see faces in the windows, but he wasn't sure. Most the street lights were out, and the sky was too thick with smoke for the moon to shine through. His main light source was the burning wrecking of a car across the street from him. Was something trying to get out of it?

__

Maybe I should go through the park. It seems like it'd be the safest route and it's not far.

It had to be better than going through the zombies.

His head throbbed painfully as he started across the barren street. He stopped halfway across the road and rubbed his aching forehead. The pain was making his eyes water. He felt a cool breeze against his skin, like icy fingers moving along the back of his neck. A piece of newspaper fluttered by.

__

Why did things go wrong?

The pain dulled, enough for him to think clearly. So many people were gone now. People who he had talked to just a few days ago. People he'd seen smiling and laughing and living their lives the best they could.

Why did _they_ have to dieWhy did he have to be all alone?

He realized then how desperate he was for human company. He wanted someone beside him to share his pain, and help him through the terrible loneliness he was feeling right now.

He saw a light out of the corner of his eye. It was bright, rapidly illuminating the dark corners of the road. A small glimmer of hope rose from within him. Maybe it was someone coming to rescue him.

Then the deafening blare of a truck horn rang through his ears. A truck was speeding towards him, with no sign of slowing down. His legs were frozen as he looked upon the fast-approaching vehicle.

__

Doesn't he see me?!

He dove out the way as the truck flew past. His body slammed into the pavement and rolled a couple feet away. The cement scrapped painfully against his skin and the world spun around him in a colorful blur. He struggled to sit up, expecting to see the fading tail lights moving away from him.

Nothing.

__

What? It couldn't have driven away that fast…

It was gone, not a trace of it was left. Even the newspaper that had floated past him was in the exact spot it landed. He grunted and pushed himself back onto his feet, shaking off the dizziness that lingered.

He made it to the other side of the intersection, this time sticking to the sidewalks. Up ahead, he could clearly see the Umbrella Inc. building that loomed over the city. In a way, the building carried an air of superiority in regards to everything else in the city.

He frowned, his dislike of the company distracting him from the potential dangers around him. In his humble opinion, they were nothing but a bunch of screw-ups who pranced about like they owned the whole world. Like most multibillion dollar companies.

__

Like that one time I went in for a prescription. Morons gave me the wrong medicine and had me on the crapper for a week.

They had been real assholes about it when he came back too. They gave no apologies, made him pay full price _again_, and if that wasn't bad enough, they treated him lower than dirt.

__

We're here to help you my ass. More like we're here to help you empty your wallet.

Then there was that one time a few years after that incident, and-wait, no. He lost his train of thought. Where was he going again?

The park.

Something to the left caught his eye. A lone building stood behind an old, rusty fence. The gate hung wide open, as if beckoning him to enter. Trees lined up near the building, blocking his view. A sign was posted to his right.

"The Carter Museum of Mental Therapies."

He shivered at the sight of the old, creepy building. It had quite a history, though he didn't remember all of it. Before it became a museum, it was called the _Carter Institute for Mental Correction_. It had been closed down in the early eighties, for reasons no one knew. Some said it was because of the not-so-ethical practices there, but that was only a rumor.

Still, it bothered him. He was deathly afraid of asylums, or anything associated with it.

'That includes this museum,' he thought. There was no chance in hell he was going in there. Besides, he had to get to the park. He had no business snooping around a museum. He turned around-

"Help me!"

He whipped his head around, trying to located the source of the faint voice. It sounded like it had come from the museum.

__

That's ridiculous. No one would be in there.

Something was approaching from further up the road. He took a couple of steps forward to get a better look.

More zombies.

There were a lot of them this time, probably had come from the main road that led out of the city. That road was always busy with traffic.

"HELP ME!" the voice cried again, louder this time. It sounded deep, male. It sounded like-

__

James?

The saliva caught in his throat and he swallowed it down. It couldn't possibly be James, there was no way he would've gotten this far ahead of him.

The zombies stumbled into each other, knocking one another to the ground as they clumsily made their way down the street. Joseph could either try to go through them, get across the street and take a detour, or-

__

Save that man.

His legs were shaking. He knew what the right thing to do was, but he didn't want to do it. Lord, he didn't want to do it. He was afraid, he didn't have the courage or strength to approach the building.

__

That man might already be dead.

He took a step forward.

__

What if he needs help?

He took a step back.

__

It's too risky, you might be killed! Then what good are you? Besides, you have to take care of yourself.

He took a step forward.

__

What if it's James?

__

What if there's a monster inside, one tougher than all the others? James was going to abandoned you anyway, right?

What if what if what if what if-

He clutched the sides of his head. A choked cry escaped his lips.

"Please! Someone help!"

He looked back again, and took a deep breath. He started running towards the building, keeping his head low. If he looked up, he might lose his courage to go inside. He felt like something was watching him from the trees. He staggered up the stone steps, past the huge, marble pillars that stood on each side of him. He briefly looked behind him to see the zombies moving past the gate.

He turned his attention to the large, metal doors in front of him. He held back the fear that was threatening to overtake him. He pressed his hands against the door, and they came open with an eerie groan. He slipped inside.

It took a moment for his eyes to adjust to the darkness of the room. It was small, damp, and it had a musty smell to it. There was a desk right next to him, with a light illuminating the wall behind it. He peered over the edge of the desk, and saw the corpse of a young woman. A lit flashlight was beside her, and her facial features-what was left of them-were twisted into a look of horror. He moved around the side of the desk, snatched up the flashlight, and backed away from the corpse. The sight of her was disturbing.

He shined his flashlight down the hallway.

"James?" he called loudly. He waited for a response, but there was none. Had he been killed?

It was tempting to turn back and run right about now, but he had to make sure if that person he heard was really James. He was desperate to have someone help him get through Raccoon City. The streets were too dangerous for just one man alone.

He walked further down the hall, and the floorboards sighed as he disappeared deeper into the asylum.


	18. The Dream

Author's Note: Sorry it's been so long since I've updated. I had do to a lot of planning before I could do this chapter. Hopefully, you'll like it! I'm thinking that I'm going to move this story back into the PG-13 section. The R section is such a hassle. It'd probably make it easier on you all, right?

--

It wasn't as bad as he was expecting.

He had never been in an asylum before, but he thought it'd be more like a prison. A prison with rows of cells, tiny little windows, and other creepy things.

Instead, it looked more like a nice hotel. The floor was covered in the fanciest carpet he'd ever seen. Though mostly red, the rug was imprinted with the design of a large phoenix that spread across the main entrance.

The entrance itself was a circular room that split off into different wings, or "exhibits". Five marble pillars lined the walls, in the shape of dragons reaching towards the ceiling. Centered in between each pillar was a unique-looking painting.

'How is this an asylum?' he wondered. Even some of the museums he'd been in didn't look this nice.

__

Carter must've had a lot of money to put into this. I bet the patients loved it here. I wonder why they closed it down? Lack of funds?

Taking away from the beauty of the room were the large, potted plants that had been spilled. He was brought back to reality, remembering the reason why he came and what he was facing.

"James?" he called loudly. He went silent, carefully listening for a reply. He thought he heard footsteps coming from the east wing.

He started in that direction, briskly walking past a sign. He only caught a glimpse of what was written on it before he passed.

__

"Please watch your-"

He yelped as he lost his footing. The floor disappeared from under him and he landed flat on his stomach. His head was spinning, and before he could push himself up, he felt a hand on his shoulder.

Instantly thinking it was a zombie, he jerked away. The hand tightened around his shoulder.

"Joseph? Why are you roaming the halls at this hour?" an unfamiliar voice spoke. He stopped struggling and his flashlight illuminated the face of a man he'd never seen before. The man squinted, averting his eyes from the shining light.

"Who are you?" Joseph asked, trying to remember if he'd ever seen this man before. He was tall, had gray hair and a long, white coat…

"Dr. Amherst?" a new voice said. Joseph looked past the doctor to a young woman. She was dressed in the same attire as the man in front of him. A girl patient was clinging to the woman's hand. Her back was hunched in a way that reminded him of Igor, and long, black hair hid her face.

"I found this girl wandering in the cafeteria. It's alright, she didn't hurt anyone," she said. The doctor nodded.

"Okay, that's good. Take her back to her room and lock the door. Make sure she's sedated before you do it."

"Yes, doctor."

Joseph watched the girl as she staggered past. She turned her head at him, and he saw that part of her face was scarred. Without warning, she snarled and lunged at him. He screamed and tried to shove her off. While she ferociously clawed at him, he could hear Dr. Amherst yelling. The woman pinned her down, and a few seconds later she stopped moving. The woman rose, tugging on the hand of the girl. She got back up, her head bowed submissively, and followed her.

"Are you hurt, Joseph?" Dr. Amherst asked. His heart was beating frantically.

"I'm fine," he said, his voice strained.

"I'm so sorry about her. She thinks she's part wild animal. We've had to keep her locked up because she keeps attacking other patients. Of course, you already know that from the last time you met her," the doctor said, smoothing out his coat, "now, let's get you back to your room-"

"What the hell is going on here?!" Joseph yelled. He got to his feet, pulling away from Dr. Amherst.

"There's no reason to be afraid. You were brought here to get better, remember? You're a very sick man-"

"No! No I'm not! I don't know what kind of sick joke this is, but I don't have time for it! Don't you even realize what's happening outside? There are monsters everywhere!"

He was breathing heavily, and he looked at the doctor to see his reaction. The doctor's expression hadn't changed. His face was as serious as ever.

"Joseph, what are you talking about?" he asked.

His voice caught in his throat. It took him a few minutes to speak.

"T…the monsters…don't you see them? It'll only be a matter of time before they get into this museum…"

"This isn't a museum. It's a hospital to help you get better. And there are no such things as monsters."

"I'm not sick…" Joseph said weakly. He felt like crying.

"…Come on. I'll take you back to your room," the man held out his hand. He was tempted to take it. There was safety where the doctor was taking him.

Right?

He reached out his hand, about to let Dr. Amherst lead him. Then he heard footsteps again. Was there a whisper too?

"James?" he called, pulling away from the doctor's grasp. He started towards the sound until he felt Dr. Amherst pull him back.

"There's no one there, Joseph."

He looked at the doctor, then back at the hallway.

"Joseph! RUN!" a voice screamed. He snapped back to reality. His fears, his situation all came rushing back to him. Before the doctor could react, he shoved him against the wall and started running in the direction of the voice. _It's help! Someone's trying to help me!_

"Stop that man!" Dr. Amherst shrieked.

Further down the hall, a male figure was waiting at the end. He was partially hidden from the shadows that enveloped the hall. His head tilted at the sound of Joseph approaching. He shouted out to him, and the figure moved into his line of sight. He was tall, reddish hair-

"James! Thank god! You have to help m-" he was cut off when something hard hit his back, sending him to the ground. Muscular arms pinned him down as he struggled to get up. He felt something tug at his waist, and he realized they were disarming him of his only gun. He looked at James for help, but he didn't move.

"What are you doing?! Don't just stand there! Help me!"

He turned and opened the nearest door, ignoring Joseph's pleas.

"James, do something! Don't let them take me!"

Something pricked his neck, and his vision blurred as he helplessly watched James walk through the exit.

"James…help…" Joseph whimpered, right before everything faded to black.

--

Light.

His eyes slowly opened to the shining, crescent moon that hung right above the window he was facing. He was stretched out on a very uncomfortable bed with his flashlight brushing up against his arm. There was no blanket or pillow, just a firm, bumpy mattress that smelled like mildew. The room he was in was dark, cold, and nearly empty with the exception of the collage of pictures on the wall opposite of him.

He felt nauseated as he sat up, shaking off the weariness that came from the sedatives they injected him with. It was dead silent, making him wonder how long he'd slept.

__

It couldn't have been real, could it? Maybe I was wandering the halls and fell asleep. I could have dreamed it all up! Yeah, that has to be it. There hasn't been any patients or doctors in here for years. It's just an old museum now.

He looked at the collage. Some of the pictures had been clipped out of newspapers and magazines, others had been poorly drawn by hand. They were all pictures of dogs, puppies especially.

"Weird," he muttered aloud. He remembered when he was a young boy his family had gotten a puppy. They had to get rid of it a few days later when they found out he was allergic to dogs. His younger sister had been so upset with him that she didn't talk to him for a couple of days.

A beeping sound drew his attention away from the pictures, and he found himself looking at a camera. It was hooked up to the ceiling right from where his bed was. He hadn't noticed it when he woke up. Had it always been there?

__

Is it watching me? No, it couldn't be…

A soft shuffle of footsteps echoed outside his room. He froze, immediately fearing it was a zombie-or worse.

They grew louder and quicker as it drew close. He couldn't hear a moan from it, instead it sounded like it was mumbling. He snatched his flashlight off the bed and edged closer to the door, which surprisingly was unlocked. The doctor must have-no, he wasn't real.

He opened the door just a crack, to get a better look. Instinctively, he reached for his gun only to remember that it was taken from him. He turned the flashlight on and shined it into the corridor.

A sharp gasp came from his throat as he witnessed the grotesque sight in front of him. It reminded him of a zombie, only this "zombie" was standing upright like a normal human. The only difference was that nearly its entire face was torn off, save for its mouth and ears. It had no eyes, it didn't even have eye sockets. Most of its head was just composed of pulsing, wet meat.

It turned its head when it realized someone else was there. If it had eyes, Joseph swore it would be looking right at him. It remained perfectly still, then the mouth suddenly curved down in a scowl.

"Hey, didn't anyone ever tell you it's impolite to stare?!" the mouth snapped. The voice coming from it was high and scratchy. It took his mind a few minutes to register that this horrible _thing _was speaking to him.

"What? Do you have some kind of problem with people that don't have faces?" it snapped again. It walked towards him.

"S-stay away from me!" he cried, shrinking back into his room. _This has to be a dream!_

"Stay away from _you_? You narrow-minded bastards aren't even worth my time. Do you know what did this to me?"

He didn't answer.

"Well, _do you_?!" the thing shrieked in a frightening tone, its mouth opening far wider than any human's could go. It broke into a run straight towards Joseph. Before it reached him, he backed further into his room and slammed the door close. The faceless creature clawed madly at his door. He pressed his whole weight into it, firmly holding it in place. It finally gave up.

"I USED TO HAVE A FACE, BUT IT GOBBLED IT UP!" it screamed. Its footsteps faded down the hall, but he could still hear it throwing a tantrum. After it became quiet again, he slowly opened the door.

The coast was clear. He slipped out of his room and into the hall. He glanced left and right, just to make sure there weren't anymore monsters.

"W-what the hell was that?" he mumbled to himself, shaking a little.

A sign was posted near his room.

__

"These were the rooms where male patients were kept. Patients were studied twenty-four hours a day by cameras placed in their rooms. Since the cameras weren't hidden, it disturbed some of the patients living here. These cameras were called the eyes of the building."

He shuddered, unable to imagine constantly being watched. Just seeing that camera in his room was enough to give him chills.

He continued on his way, figuring there had to be an exit close by. If he was lucky, he might run into James again. _Then I could blow his head off for leaving me to those doctors. _He smiled at the sick image. It served him right for leaving him.

He pushed the door open.

His train of thought left him to take in his new surroundings. Chairs lined up neatly against the cracked, yellowish-white walls. A large window was stretched across the western side of the room, reaching all the way down to the soft, maroon-colored carpet. He thought he saw dark shapes moving across the window, but nothing was there when he shined his flashlight.

A sign was posted next to him, right under one of the many television sets that were hooked into the wall.

__

"The dayroom is where patients could come and enjoy themselves. Due to problems of overcrowding, several hallways were built so that everyone had convenient access to these rooms. Along with the dayroom, the patients could also visit the painting room and library."

Something hissed from somewhere in the room. He jerked around quickly, searching for the source of the noise. The flashlight shook in his hands.

__

"Jo…sph…" He jumped, and for a brief moment he saw white static on the television. In the center of the static was a still, dark shape. He couldn't make out who or what it was.

__

"Downstairs…" the static blocked out the next few words, _"…child room…save…she's…"_

The television shut off. He watched it closely, waiting to see if it'd come back on again. The only sound accompanying him was his deep, ragged breathing.

__

Save…? Save whom?

He walked to the other side of the room, into another corridor. More rooms were set up parallel to each other on each side of the hall. They resembled the prison cells that he imagined an asylum would have.

"I've got to get out of here," he said to himself. He reached over to the closest door and pushed it open.

He found a staircase and an elevator. He stepped back, feeling a pang of fear towards the rusty-looking doors of the elevator.

__

I'll just use the stairs.

The stairs weren't anymore appealing. Water leaked from the ceiling, dripping all over the staircase. Something else also stained the stairway, something reddish-brown. He didn't focus on it too much, instead directing his flashlight to the bottom of the stairs. From what he could see, there was a single wheelchair propped up in the corner.

He clung to the rail, feeling the crusty metal under his hand. He cautiously stepped down, feeling sick every time his foot would slip a little in the small pools of water.

He was almost to the bottom, hanging onto the unsanitary rail for safety. The stairway trembled under him, as if it had come alive with his presence. The trembling came in a strong, steady pattern, like a heartbeat. He paused and waited uneasily until it stopped.

A loud screech came from the ceiling. He pointed his flashlight above him and choked back a horrified cry at what he saw. A terrifying, disfigured monster hung above him. Its body, beast-like in shape, was stripped of its skin. Its bulky arms were holding the creature upside-down with its large claws digging into ceiling. An abnormally long neck extended from its torso, and its face was too marred to distinguish if it had ever been human.

It twisted its neck around to see what kind of intruder was disturbing it. He felt frozen as the beast convulsed and jerked violently. It lashed out its neck at him and he lost his footing. His fingers slipped away from the railing and he fell. He cried out as his head cracked against the cement and he felt his body knock over the wheelchair. The creature dropped down while he was recovering from his fall.

Knowing he was in danger, he struggled to get back up. It quickly made its way down the staircase, moving at an inhuman speed. He lunged for the door, the metal slamming against the rough plaster of the wall. The creature snaked out its head just as he tried to slam the door close. He tried pulling it shut with all his strength while the creature screamed and withered in pain.

With a bone-crunching snap, the door came all the way closed. Blood splashed the front and back of the door as the decapitated head of the monster hit the ground with a sickening thump. His heart was beating frantically, his palms were sweating, and the front of his shirt had been sprayed with blood.

When he realized it was dead, he finally let go of the door. He turned, searching the room for any other threat.

It struck him then why the hallway looked oddly familiar.

He was back on the first floor. The place where the doctors had knocked him out and where James had left him behind.

He heard a child's soft cry from somewhere far away.

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Get going, his mind told him. He glanced back to where the head of the monster had fallen, only to find it missing. He looked wearily at the empty spot before heading in the direction of the cry.


	19. Follow the Leader

Author's Note: Oh boy, I know it's been a very long time since I last updated. I'm really, really sorry. I've been caught up in a lot of things (school, work, preparing for college, etc) and I kinda lost interest in Resident Evil and writing. I hit a big road block with this story, because I didn't know where to take it next. Sorry if I drove away any readers. Thanks Himeko for giving me a reminder to get back on track.

The entrance hall was brighter now. Someone had gone around lighting the small lanterns that hung from the walls. It had been too dark to see them before, but now the tiny flames were struggling to provide the room with a sufficient amount of light.

From the hallway across from him came the sound of running water. The hall to his right remained completely silent. As he stood there, the room grew colder. He gently rubbed his arms.

He took a few steps forward, deciding to check out the more silent hallway.

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CLANG! Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!

He jumped back at the sound of clashing metal coming from the hallway. Faint gurgling came from the other hallway. He took several steps back, unsure of which hallway to take.

"Joseph? Are you down here again? You know the rules," Dr. Amherst's voice called from one of the hallways. He heard footsteps. He didn't know where they were coming from.

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He's not real!

"Joseph?" his voice was louder. Closer.

He jerked his body around, facing the front entrance. His mind was wild with fear. He ran as fast as his legs could take him. He reached his hands towards the door leading out, nearly stumbling as he did.

Then he stopped at the sound of moans. They came from the other side of the door. The zombies _knew _he was hiding in there.

"No…" he whispered.

"Joseph! If you're in here, come out!" Dr. Amherst sounded angry. He dove behind the desk, crouching next the corpse of the woman he took the flashlight from. He waited until the footsteps had passed and he couldn't hear Dr. Amherst's voice anymore.

He slowly rose from his hiding place.

"Josssseeeeph…" a voice hissed. He looked down at the dead woman to find her staring up at him. She didn't move, maybe he had only heard the voice. He started to move past her when she let out a soft moan. A moment later, she lashed out and grabbed a fistful of his shirt.

He flung himself around and found her staring at him milky white eyes. Her jaws opened slightly, drool slipping over the corners of her rotted mouth. She reached up and grabbed his arm, pulling herself closer. Her mouth opened wider, exposing her yellow teeth. Her discolored, swollen tongue.

"Get away from me!" he screamed.

"Joseph!" Dr. Amherst called, his imaginary footsteps quickening.

Joseph grabbed the woman's arms and violently shoved her off him. She moaned softly as he groped the desk behind him and pushed himself up. She swiped at his legs, only to have his boot smash into the side of her face. As she collapsed, he ran to the door.

The wails outside started up again as he tried to turn the doorknob. Some of them were clawing at the door, trying to get inside. He turned around, certain that he could feel the presence of Dr. Amherst behind him.

No one.

He was too afraid to speak, until he heard the sound of a child crying in the distance.

"Hello?" he called out, hoping for a response. The cries only continued to get louder, more desperate.

Hesitantly, he walked back towards the entrance hall. As his feet scuffed against the red carpet, he heard a wet sound under his heels. He stopped to look down, and found that spots of the red carpet were darker than others. He bent down and touched it. It felt like a wet shower rug.

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It's water.

He followed the trail of water, which led down the hallway where the metal clashing had first started. He swallowed hard and took a few steps forward.

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That little kid crying…was it coming from in here?

He worked up the courage to push the large metal doors open. He slipped inside, glancing over his shoulder as he pulled the doors shut. He saw that he was standing in the filthiest cafeteria he'd ever seen. The tables were rusty and there was dust and mold everywhere. Even the air had a musty scent to it.

The cafeteria branched off into other parts of the first floor. He casually glanced around, trying to decide from where the cry had come. Then the sweet voice of a little girl called faintly from another room.

"Mommy…mommy…"

His ears perked up and his eyes searched the room. It sounded like it could have come from anywhere.

"Hello? Hey, can you hear me!" he yelled.

"Mommy…I want mommy…"

"Keep talking! Keep talking so I can find you!" he cried out. He waited for her to speak again, but she remained quiet. He heard a soft scratching noise somewhere in the cafeteria.

He looked down and saw watery footsteps leading him to the hall on the left side of the cafeteria. They were tiny, no bigger than the feet of a seven-year old child. He couldn't imagine any kids being in a place like this.

So am I imagining it?

"Mommy!"

He was jerked from his thoughts. Pushing aside fear and doubt, he followed the wet footprints into the hall. As he came out from the cafeteria, he was reminded of the hall of rooms that he had been in on the second floor.

"Where are you!" Joseph yelled again, loud enough to-

__

wake the living dead.

"Mommy! Mommy please come get me!" the tiny voice shrieked. He rounded the corner quickly, following the trail the water-soaked apparition had left for him. They stopped directly in front of a single door.

Not hesitating, he made his way towards the room. The door stubbornly remained locked as he tried to open it. He pressed his face against the small window, hoping to see if this actually was the room with the girl in it.

Too dark.

"Hey, is anyone inside?" he asked aloud, pounding his fist against the door. He heard sniveling from the other side.

He took a few steps back, then charged at the door. It shook violently, but it didn't open.

"Come on!"

He tried again, slamming against the door over and over. Finally, the hinges snapped and it smashed against the wall. Light flooded the room, and he saw a little girl huddled on the floor. Her face was streaked with tears, and she had long, dark hair. She looked unusually thin for a girl her age. His mind was racing. What was a child doing here?

"Are you alright?" he asked gently. She looked at him as if she were watching a ghost. She eventually rose from her spot on the floor and approached him, carefully studying his physical features.

"Noah?" she said. He drew back in confusion.

"Who's Noah?" he asked. He watched as tears began to well up in her eyes.

"You mean you're not him?" she asked.

"I'm sorry, kid, but I think you're mistaking me for someone else. My name's Joseph," he said. The bottom of the little girl's lip quivered, and he struggled to think of anything that could calm her down.

"But you look just like him! You have to be Noah! He promised he'd come back to see me!" she cried, fresh tears flowing down her cheeks.

"Look kid, who's this Noah guy? And who are you?"

The girl rubbed at her eyes, sniffling. She kept her eyes on the tiled flooring, "my name's Caroline Brook."

"Okay. Caroline. Who's Noah and what's a little girl like you doing in a place like this?"

She looked up, her eyes narrowed in a glare.

"That's none of your business!" she snapped. The tone of her voice startled the older man. She ran past him, towards the door. He briefly felt her hand brush against his knee and a faint image forced his way into his mind.

__

"Joseph…you're not allowed to see her…" a man's voice echoed through his mind.

"Caroline, don't! It's too dangerous!"

She stopped and looked at him.

"You're just a big liar!" she said, and before he could stop her she ran off. Joseph jumped up and ran out into the hallway. The little girl was nowhere in sight.

"Caroline! Caroline, come back! Please!" he called out. Inside of hearing the girl's voice, he was answered by the squeaking of wheels. He turned his head just in time to see a gurney being rolled around the corner. Seeing it was coming in his direction, he ducked back inside the room.

The louder the squeaking became, the faster his heart beat. He watched the bleach white walls across from the room he was hiding in. He was expecting to see a flash of something fly past his room any second now.

The squeaking became slower, as if the gurney was slowing down. His heart leapt to his throat as he saw the gurney slowly come into view. There was a figure laying on the gurney. It didn't look human exactly. It looked like some kind of large animal.

Then he recognized it. It was Mr. Raccoon, or someone dressed as him. Joseph staggered back, he always had a slight fear of Raccoon City's famous mascot. It spooked him, and seeing it there staring at him wasn't helping matters. A long cord was attached to its arm, and red liquid was being pumped through it.

Mr. Raccoon, its blank eyes still focused on Joseph, raised his hand and waved almost cheerfully at him. It sent chills up the man's spine.

Then the creature pushing the gurney came into sight. It kind of looked like a nurse, but her uniform was soaked in blood. Her head was wrapped in a plastic bag and she was shaking, as if she were trying to get air.

His back bumped against the wall. Certainly it was going to be him on that gurney next. They were going to come after him and kill him-

The nurse made a cry that sounded something like a shriek and a moan. She shoved the gurney and the two creatures disappeared further down the hall. Away from him.

It took him a few minutes before he could muster up the courage to look outside. The nurse and Mr. Raccoon were gone, much to his relief, but so was Caroline.

He had to find her before those other creatures did.


End file.
